


Moving in, Moving on

by LadyAmalthea



Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Moving, Moving In Together, Moving On, Nightmares, Panic Attacks, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Romance, Sexual Assault, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-04
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-07-20 02:25:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7386910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyAmalthea/pseuds/LadyAmalthea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Due to some traumatic circumstances, you meet your internet idols. You finally start to open up about some things from your past, and you decide to make a big step to start moving on with your life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Help!

For the first time in months, you wore your favorite dress. It was too revealing for work, but when you did your hair up and threw on some lipstick, it was the prettiest you had felt in a while. You still weren’t completely confident in yourself, but dressing up every once in a while helped.

You had been waiting months to see Game Grumps Live, and you were so excited when you heard they were doing a show not too far from you. It was going to be the whole game, an hour of them playing multiplayer, and then a short concert of Ninja Sex Party and Starbomb. You waited months, and worked really hard at your job as a secretary to get a day off. You planned on going with a friend, who you would meet for drinks at the bar down the block beforehand. There were quite a few other people there with Game Grump t-shirts, and other who looked like they were probably going to the concert too. But there was one guy there who made your skin crawl; the creep had offered you and your friend some drinks, but you turned him down.

            The show was incredibly fun, you hadn’t been so happy in a long time. Your friend had to leave right when the show ended, but you decided to stick around for a while in case the Grumps came out to sign autographs. You went down the stairs of the comedy club to use the bathroom, when you felt something prick your shoulder. You turned to look, and then swayed in dizziness.

            ---

            What woke you was a jolt of pain between your legs. You grunted in pain as you felt something…someone…penetrating you. You tried to scream, but you realized your mouth was covered in duct tape, and your hands were bound together with some as well. You began to thrash about when you heard a switchblade flick open, and it pressed against your neck.

            “Hush… you’re almost done.”

            You furrowed your brows and squinted your eyes shut as he continued to forcefully thrust into you. You slowly began to feel the bruises and cuts around your body, and tears began to form in the corners of your eyes. The scumbag fucking you continued to grunt, and you could faintly hear a group of people passing the alley about a hundred feet away.

“Fucking hell..” he groaned, annoyed. You heard the distant talking get louder, and then you were thrown to the ground as you heard footsteps approached.

You were able to shift your body so you were sitting up against the brick wall, keeping your eyes closed in fear.

“This isn’t what it looks like, just keep walking…” you could hear him say.

“We already called the cops man, don’t you dare run off…” the new voice seemed vaguely familiar, and a little older…but you couldn’t put your finger on it.

“Suzy, go see if she’s all right…” Your eyes shot wide open, but you just stared at the ground in disbelief. Was that who you thought it was?

“Don’t you fucking even… you guys better fuck off right now.” the sinister man threatened, you assumed he probably still had his switchblade out. You shut your eyes again, unable to stop the uncontrollable sobs that escaped. Your heart began racing, and it was getting harder and harder to breathe through only your nose.

You heard one of them start walking toward you, but he was shoved away by the rapist. You heard yelling as another one came up to disarm him. “SUZY, GO HELP HER!” You could hear Dan yell, struggling against the man.

You were shaking violently, when you felt someone, you assumed it was Suzy, carefully peel the tape off your mouth. As soon as you could open your mouth, you wailed pathetically in pain; gasping with difficulty as you felt your chest tighten. Your head was already swimming, but a growing chill inside of you broke loose and you felt yourself collapse. Suzy caught you as you convulsed; you could feel your skin shiver in cold.

“Breathe, you’re safe, it’s okay…” she tried to calm you, even though her own voice was shaking with concern. “Guys, are the police coming with an ambulance?” You finally gained enough control to look up at her, and saw Arin kneel down beside her.

“Yea, they have someone coming…” He flipped open a pocket knife from his pocket, and you instinctively jumped away from them. “Shit…” he closed it and handed it to Suzy, raising his hands up. “It’s okay, it’s just to cut the tape off of your hands. Do you mind if Suzy does it or should we wait for a medic?” It was weird hearing him so serious; you tried to answer verbally but you couldn’t bring yourself to. You shook your head slowly side to side, and even though you were still uneasy and shaking, you shift your back toward them where your wrists were painfully bound together. Suzy made a small slit, and then was able to rip the cut the rest of the way, and you felt your arms limp to your side, and you moaned quietly in relief for a moment. You stretched your arms and hands out in front of you as you rotated back around to face them.

You struggled to compose your thoughts for a moment, and then forced the muscles in your mouth to finally speak. “Th-thank y-y-you.” You felt a biting chill creep back into your veins, and wrapped your newly-freed arms around yourself, shivering.

“Dan, can we use your jacket?” Suzy asked. You looked up to see Dan and Brian (who must’ve been the first voice you heard, you realized), pinning the guy to the brick wall across the alleyway. The two of them maneuvered his wrists together, and Brian nodded to Dan that he had the guy pinned.

Dan sprinted over while removing his black, leather jacket, and placed it around your shoulders. “What’s your name?” His soft brown eyes broke through the fog of confusion and you felt the shaking and panic fade away a little bit.

“Y/N…”

He smiled a little, “Y/N, can you try to breathe with me?” You nodded slightly, and tried to smile back. He began to take a deep breath in, and you attempted to mimic him until your chest tightened painfully in residual panic. You turned your head downwards in pain and embarrassment as you tried to get control of your breathing again, and you heard the wailing of police sirens approaching. Arin and Suzy got up to speak with the police about what happened. You felt Dan move toward you a little, putting one hand on your arm and one on your cheek. “Sssshhh… It’s all right, _you’re_ all right, let’s try again, okay?” You heard him inhale through his nose, and you focused hard to mimic you rhythm. You got in two full breaths in and out before an officer came over to you.

“We’ll need to her to come to the station to do a rape kit, and then we’ll make sure you see a doctor about any injuries.” he said, sternly. You slowly opened your eyes, nodding. Danny stood up, and then offered a hand to help you stand up too. You took it, and hoisted yourself up. “Do you know who made the phone call?” the officer asked Dan.

“I did…” he replied.

“Would you mind coming as well so we can get details for the incident report?”

Dan nodded, “Sure, yeah.”

The three of you walked toward the street, and you noticed one car had already started driving away with the man in the backseat.

The next few hours were devastatingly uncomfortable. They took swabs, bloodwork, pictures, bloodwork, and a long series of questions about what happened. Some of them were harder to answer than others since you had been drugged and didn’t remember everything, but you were thankful when they finally said you were done and you could shower. Your injuries were painful, but nothing that needed to see a doctor, so they said you could leave. As you walked down the hall to the lobby to check out, you realized that taking a cab would be easiest, but too expensive to go home from this part of town. You sighed, resolving that you would just have to take the train back home…and then your mind went blank when you walked into the lobby and all of the Game Grumps were sitting there. Were they… waiting for you?

“Oh, thank god!” Dan said, leaping up from the chair and coming over to you. “Are you all right?” The rest of them slowly got up as well

You nodded a little, and blushed profusely. “Th-thank you….umm, all of you. Really I don’t know how I can make it up to you.”

“Oh no, we’re just glad you’re all right.” Suzy said insistently.

“Do you have a ride home?” Arin asked.

“I was…” you scratched the back of your head, turning away from making eye contact. “I was just gonna take the train back… I can’t afford a cab and-”

“No way, we’re bringing you home.” Barry interjected, everyone mumbled in agreement.

“Are….are you sure? Can I at least all of you some tea or something?”


	2. Late Night Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Grumps come over to your apartment...?!

Before you knew it, you were in the back of a rental car with Brian, Barry and Dan. Arin, Suzy and Ross were right behind following, since you knew the easiest route to your apartment.

            After about fifteen minutes getting out of downtown, you were on a highway so for a little while, so the car was peacefully quiet. You looked over to see Dan looking out the window, a little sad and looking kinda sleepy, and then you realized you were still wearing his jacket.

            “Oh! I need to give this back to you…” you wriggled out of the jacket even with your seatbelt on and held it out to him. “Thank you” you whispered quietly as he took the folded jacket. He nodded tiredly, and put it on the car door to rest his head on.

            “Getting sleepy back there, Daniel?” Brian asked, a little teasingly.

            “Mmmmmm yeah….” He responded.

            “Hey Barry, take this next exit…” you said.

            In a few minutes, both cars were parked a couple blocks from your apartment, and they followed you up to your apartment. It wasn’t huge, but you could afford something a little more spacious than most single people your age. You went to the kitchen and filled a pot with water, and flicked a knob on the stove to start up the gas burner. The group had made themselves comfortable in your living room, and Dan sat on one of the ends of your couch and curled up in to a ball.

            “You have some sweet games, Y/N…” Arin commented; he sat on the rug in front of the TV as he skimmed through you various games.

            “Thanks! I used to only be able to play PC games, but my cousin gave me some of his old stuff when he went to college.” All of them were pretty wide awake except for Dan, and you chatted with them for a little while once the tea was ready. About an hour passed, and Suzy suggested that they should head back to the hotel.

            “Did Dan decide which room he’s sleeping in?” Arin said, getting up to nudge the not-so-Grump awake.

            “I think he’s decided on Y/N’s couch!” Suzy giggled.

            “He can stay here, I don’t mind.” You interjected, but became flustered when all of them turned to look at you. “H-he seemed really tired during the drive up here…”

            You saw Barry whisper something to Arin, a look of concern on his face. Arin shook his head. “Nah, it’ll be fine. If you really don’t mind, it would mean a lot to us, he’s had a hard time sleeping while on tour.”

            “I don’t… umm, this is gonna sound weird, but can I give one of you my phone number so you can let me know when you get back to the hotel safely?”

            “Sure! Here…” Suzy pulled out her phone, and the two of you exchanged numbers. As you did, you saw Arin and Barry take off Dan’s jacket and shifted him so he was lying flat along the couch. Suzy lowered her voice a little, leaning toward you, “are you sure you’ll be okay tonight? You just went through a lot…”

            You nodded. “Yeah, a good night’s sleep will help… and I won’t be alone now.” You smiled shyly, and glanced over at the lump of not-so-Grump snuggled up on your couch.

            “Well, send me a text if you need anything. Our hotel is actually not too far, so I can come over if you need anything.” She leaned in closer and gave you a gentle hug, and you hugged her back.

            “Thank you…”

            Brian and Barry were already heading down the stairs, and you saw Ross and Arin waiting for Suzy by the door. “Have a good night, Y/N, let us know tomorrow when Danny wakes up; we don’t need to leave early.”

            You waved goodbye to all of them, and quietly closed and locked the door. You stepped just as silently over to your linen closet, and pulled out a big, fuzzy blanket. You carefully tucked the blanket around him, resisting the urge to run your fingers through his fluffy hair.

            Not feeling tired quite yet, you decided to grab your laptop and sit in the corner of the L-shaped couch. After a few hours of scrolling through Tumblr, you finally felt your eyes growing heavy, so you closed your laptop and curled up on the short section of couch and drifted in and out of light sleep.

            ---

            You awoke from sleep, startled, to hear Dan panting heavily in his sleep. It was nearly pitch black in the living room, so you felt around until you were kneeling next to where he was laying.

            He thrashed around wildly, accidentally hitting one of the bruises on your cheek. “Dan?” You tried shaking him, realizing he wasn’t responding, and stumbled over to the light switch to find out what was happening. When you could finally see, it dawned on you that he was still asleep.

            You approached him cautiously, worried that he would cry out and wake up your neighbors, and sat on the cough next to him. Once you could get a grip on his hands, you interlaced you fingers with his, and softly repeated calling his name. You didn’t even realize your own heart was racing.

            “NO!!!!” In one last outlash, Dan’s eyes flew open, and his breathed heavily, and stared into your eyes like he could see straight into your soul.

            After a few minutes of sitting in silence as he gained his composure, you finally spoke up: “Dan…are…are you…ok?”

He nodded slightly, his faced was a little flushed in surprise, and his eyes glanced over to his hands. He followed his gaze, and saw you were still holding his hands. You coiled your hands away, your cheeks turning bright red. “I’ll…uhhh… make some tea!?”

            As you prepared the same pot from earlier with water and pulled some decaffeinated tea from the cabinet, you could still feel the heat radiating from your cheeks. You heard Dan rustle around on the couch. When you turned back around to see him, he was hunched over with his face hidden in the palms of his hands.

            “Hey Dan…can I get you anything while the water is boiling” you asked. His mess of hair swayed a little as he shook his head. You sat on the floor in front of him, and slowly brought your hands up underneath his, and rubbed them gently.

            “I’m…” his voice cracked a little when he spoke, “I’m really sorry. That hasn’t happened in a while, and I guess the whole ordeal yesterday left me a little worn.” He lifted his face away, his tired eyes barely opened as he looked at you, and he flipped his hands around so he was holding your smaller hands in his large ones. “Thank you…I…you seem really composed for someone who just went through such a traumatic fucking thing…” he voice carried a tinge of spite; it wasn’t towards you, but towards the guy who did it to you.

            “I guess I’m just… It still hasn’t set in.” You said, lying just slightly. You had barely slept most of the night and were still a nervous mess, but you were handling it better than you thought you would.

            Dan pulled your hands up to his face, rubbing them against his cheek. “Your hands are like…crazy soft, ya know.”

            You both jumped a little at the sound of water boiling over in the pot, and your brain broke away from the situation as you bolted to the kitchen to turn off the burner. Too distracted, you forgot to wear a glove when you tried to lift the pot to pour water into the mugs. You gasped, and recoiled; shaking your hand as you slid across the linoleum to the sink to run the stinging hand under cold water.

            “Oh shit! Y/N!” Dan got up to check on you, but you waved at him to sit back down with your unburnt hand.

            “I’m good…just a clutz.” You insisted, letting the water run over the palm of your throbbing hand a little longer before reaching for a pot holder and finish preparing the tea. You rejoined Dan on the couch, setting both mugs down carefully.

            “So like…where is everyone?” Dan asked, “Cuz I vaguely remember coming up to your apartment but not much after.”

            “They’re at a hotel across town; I offered to let you crash on my couch since you fell asleep…and…well you looked really tired after we left the police station.” You yawned, despite your strongest efforts to fight how tired you were.

            “Yeah, last night wasn’t the first night I’ve woken up like that… I’ve been kinda trying to avoid sleep since we’ve been on tour.” The two of you sipped tea quietly, and you decided to finally look at the clock and see the damage: _5:52_.

            “You wouldn’t happen to have any cereal would you? I’m starving…” Danny asked; he seemed to have calmed down a bit.

            “No..but…I could make us some eggs and toast, if that’s all right?”

            “Heck yea!”

            You got out a frying pan and started getting it hot on the stove. A bit of butter, six eggs, and four slices of toast later, you had breakfast ready to go for the both of you.

            “Mmmm, this is amazingly good! You really didn’t have to cook, but damn I’m so glad you did!”

            You smiled nervously, “Th-thank you! It’s really nothing, it’s nice to cook for someone else again…” You instantly regretted saying that, you knew he would ask-

            “Again?” You took a deep breath, and set the fork down on the plate. “Shit…shit I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

            “No…it’s ummmm…” Dan followed your gaze up to a framed picture in the living room. “He died unexpectedly…about a year ago.” A few tears started leaked from the corner of your eyes, but you wiped them away before they could fall.

            “I….uhh…” he couldn’t think of a single thing to say.

            You took a deep breath before picking at your breakfast a little more. “I haven’t exactly been a stable person; everything got flipped upside down since it happened. I had to move by myself, my friends disappeared, family is too clingy…last night was my first night out in a while.” You smiled a little in thought, but you could feel Dan’s empathetic stare, and you met it. “You look at me like he did…”

            “Well…did…did he think you were beautiful? Because that would explain that…” he explained, and it made you giggle a little.

            “Th-thank you,” your cheeks turned a deep red shade of crimson from his compliment. “Do…do you want me to let Suzy know we’re awake?”

            Dan shrugged his shoulders, “they probably aren’t even awake this early…do you wanna watch something for a little bit?”

            You smiled, “it is Saturday, maybe something animated?” You turned the TV on to Netflix, and started scrolling through some of the animated movies. “Wait…” you stopped abruptly, and gently plopped down in front of your immense collection of movies. “I know you like _The Last Unicorn_ , but have you seen the Rankin and Bass _Return of the King_?”

            “Ummm… maybe, I really can’t remember. It was probably forever ago…” you tossed him the DVD case. “What fresh hell is this?!” he asked as you loaded the disc into your PS3.

            “Only the freshest of hell… I promise it’s worth it.”

            The movie, thankfully, was not very long, but you couldn’t help but giggle at some of the music numbers interspersed throughout. He seemed to enjoy it too; you caught him staring at you a couple of times when you sang along.

            When the credits started rolling, it was barely past 8am. You stood up to bring the dishes to the kitchen, and you suddenly felt extremely light-headed and your body ached painfully. Your knees gave out, and you hunched over the coffee table to gather yourself. “Woah, hey, Y/N?” You tried to respond but you felt yourself struggle to stay conscious let alone standing up. You tried to stand up straight, and you felt a sharp pain ripple through the muscles along your ribs. You swayed a little, and felt Dan catch you from behind. “Shit, oh god, Y/N!” He carefully laid you down on the couch. “What can I do? Please, say something or I’m gonna call and ambulance….”

            You held up a finger, indicating that you need a moment to collect yourself. “P-painkillers finally wore off…” You felt your skin shiver as your blood pressure spiked.

            Dan rushed to your bathroom, going through pill bottles to find a painkiller, and returned to your side with a few in his palm and a cup of water. You grimaced as you gripped the couch to sit up. You threw the three tablets of Advil into your mouth, and nearly spilled water out of the cup just from your hand shaking. Once you finished off the cup of water, you felt him sit on the couch behind you to keep you sitting upright.

            “S-sorry…” you managed to whisper, collapsing in exhaustion into his embrace.

            Dan hushed you and rubbed your shoulders, “No worries,” he said, dangerously close to your ear. You were still panting desperately, but were much more at ease and felt the painkillers start to hit, and you mind went fuzzy.

 

            You came to when you heard a song you recognized; it was one of the songs from the _Return of the King_ movie you guys had just watched. You hummed, slowly waking up, and rubbed your eyes. “Good morning, sleepy…” Dan said, pausing the music.

            “Hi…umm…did I fall asleep?” you asked groggily.

            “Only for a bit, but you looked like you really needed it. Sorry if I woke you, I was checking out some of the music from that movie.”

            You smiled, “you didn’t wake me…”

            “So…I was actually wondering if I could use your shower? I absolutely reek…” he giggled a little.

            “Oh, yea of course! Help yourself.” You shifted so that your back was up against the couch, and you smiled gently as you looked over at him. Something about being so close to him... it was a warm, comfortable feeling that you hadn’t felt in a while.

            “Cool, I might be in there a while…can you let the others know that we’re awake?” He asked as he stood up off of the couch.

            “Yea, of course, I got Suzy’s number last night…”

            “Thanks! Umm, oh! Towels?” he asked from outside the bathroom door. You pointed toward the linen closet.

            “Help yourself to any of them.” You said, grabbing your phone from the end table to send Suzy a quick text.

            **You:** _Hey, we are awake (for the most part) and Dan is showering_

            After a few minutes of hearing Dan singing in the shower, you felt your phone buzz.

            **Suzy:** _Hey, morning! Yea, we only just got up, probably gonna grab breakfast. Would you like to come with us? I’m sure Dan is starving… XD_

            **You:** _I made us some breakfast earlier, I’ll ask Dan about it when he gets out of the shower. I would really love to spend some time with you guys before you head out!_

            **Suzy:** _Heck yea!_ _We’ll come get you both in like an hour?_

            **You:** _Sounds good!_

            You slowly, and carefully, stood up to get changed and freshen up a little yourself. You left the door cracked, since you knew it wouldn’t take too long and Dan hadn’t been in the shower too long. You pulled your clothes off, and then gasped loudly when you caught yourself in your full-length mirror near your closet. There were black and blue splotches all over your body, and you spent a minute or so observing the damage on the outside. You noticed, specifically, your ribs were pretty beaten up. You felt nauseous just looking, so you shook yourself out of staring and sifted through some clothes before picking out something to wear. You changed your bra and put on some underwear before adjusting a t-shirt and some jeans onto yourself. You heard the shower turn of as you began pulling your hair up with some bobby pins, and quickly put on some eye liner and a bit of lipstick.

            “Hey, I’m all done if you need to use the bathroom…” Danny said as he entered the living room; you were right in the middle of touching up your lipstick so you couldn’t reply immediately. “Y/N?”

            “Hi! In my room, sorry…” You finished as soon as he stepped in, and you smiled up at him. “The gang is gonna be here in a little less than an hour so they can get breakfast.”

            “Aww sweet! Are you coming?!” Your face blushed hard from the excitement in his voice.

            “Yeah… I hope that’s okay?”

            He smiled brightly, “Heck yea!” You stood up and followed him back out into the living room, but excused yourself to do dishes before you went out. As you started to rinse the plates and frying pan, you noticed Dan get up and lean up against the wall in the kitchen. “So…ummm… if you ever need someone to talk to, please don’t hesitate to call or text me, all right? Or Suzy! Really any of us…” he said, flustered.

            “I might need your number if I’m gonna be calling you,” you stated coyly. You finished putting the dishes on the drying rack. You took your phone out of your pocket, and opened up a blank contact form and handed the phone to him. Both of you put your number in the other’s phone, and there was a beeping coming from the intercom at the door. “That must be them… ” You said, going over to the intercom to tell them you both would be down in a minute…you were a little sad that you alone time with Dan was over.

            “Thank you again, Y/N…” Dan said as you followed you out of the apartment.

            “Of course... I mean like… anytime you’re around please feel free to commandeer my couch.” You locked up and smiled like a dork at him. God….he was so hot.

            As the two of you made your way down the stairs, you waved at Suzy who was waiting in the vestibule. “Good morning! Did you both sleep ok?”

            “I’m telling you Suzy, her couch is like disgustingly cozy…” he said, half-joking. “Ten out of ten, would sleep on it again.”

            “Well that’s good to know. Now hop in, we’re heading to Denny’s!”

            You only ordered some coffee, but even then you were way too distracted to really drink it. Throughout breakfast, you and Dan couldn’t stop exchanging glances. It made your heart ache a little to know they would be leaving… but…you had only just met! You might’ve had a crush on him, but you were completely infatuated knowing that he really liked it. You didn’t even care if he liked you romantically…

            Before you knew it, Arin had offered to pay for your coffee, and Dan convinced them to drop you back off at home. You blinked, and they were pulling up in front of your building, and you got out.

            “Stay strong, Y/N, and please reach out if you need anything.” Suzy said, hugging you as you stood outside your building, awkwardly.

            “Will do, I promise. And you guys travel safe! You still have, what, like 4 stops on your tour left?”

            “Yea…” she said, as Dan stepping out of the car.

            “Can I walk you inside?” he asked, to which you nodded before saying quick goodbyes to the other Grumps.

            The walk upstairs was very quiet, and the two of you stood quietly outside your door for a few moments until…

            “Do you…would you consider moving out to California? Maybe get away from here for a while and… shit… I dunno…” He combed his fingers through his fluffy hair.

            “It…” you paused, your breaths becoming more frequent. “It may be good for me, my company has an office out there.”

            “Yea, you can crash with us until you find a place.” He offered, trying hard to hold himself back. You nodded, and the two of you were inching closer… “Fuck…no… I can’t.” He put his hands on your shoulders, and you leaned into him for a hug. “I’m… so selfish, I’d be so bad to you. We can’t…I…” You shoved yourself up on your tip-toes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

            “Call me tonight before your show?” You asked, sincerely. He nodded, and you disappeared into your apartment before you could say goodbye.

            Neither of you could handle saying it.

 

 

            “You all right, man?” Arin asked as they started the rental car.

            “Yeah…umm… just making sure Y/N will be okay.” He said, pressing his forehead against the window. He wanted to see your apartment for as long as he could before they inevitably had to turn.

            “Dude, you’re acting like a high school girl with the BIGGEST crush.” Ross joked, which incited Dan to shove him into the car door and return to the window.

            “She’ll be okay, Dan. Don’t worry…” Suzy assured him, and he attempted a nod.


	3. Falling into Place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You decide to try and take Danny up on his offer... maybe this would be good for you.

You spent the day calling the police office and following up on the perpetrator of the night before; it seemed he would remain in custody until he was sentenced. It made you feel a little better to know he wouldn’t be trying to hunt you down.

            A warm bubble bath, some tea, and cartoons, and you felt like things were finally settling back to normal. You still found yourself checking your phone constantly, hoping that maybe he would text you first. You were thankful that the blanket he used last night still smelled like him, it made you feel secure and cared for…but you also felt a little creepy for enjoying it as much as you did.

            As he sun began to set, you broke up some frozen veggies and leftover garlic bread and heated them up for dinner. You flipped on _The Last Unicorn_ on Netflix and dug into the steaming veggies, when your phone finally buzzed. You grabbed it immediately, nearly knocking over your food.

            **Dan:** _Hey, we just arrived at the next city._

 **Dan:** _Gonna miss your couch tonight ;)_

            You smiled, typing in your reply.

            **You:** _Glad you got there safe!_

 

            You waited a few minutes, not sure what to talk about…or if he would even reply since he was probably getting ready for a show.

            **You:** _Have an awesome show tonight!_

            That sounded pretty neutral, right?

 

            **Dan:** _Yeah, should be awesome! I’ll be glad to be in my own bed at the end of this week though…_

 **Dan:** _I’m sorry for kinda springing the whole “move to California” thing on you…_

 **You:** _Nonono, it might be good for me to get away from here for a while. I really appreciate your offer, if you don’t mind me taking you up on it_

 **Dan:** _FUCK YEA!_

**You:** _Out of curiosity… have you asked Barry about it?_

When it took longer than a few minutes for another reply, you figured he was either getting ready for the show or was asking Barry. Either way, it was nice just talking with him. You decided to text Suzy too, and check in with her.

            **You:** _Hey Suzy! Glad you guys got to the next city safe and sound. I’m feeling much better, thank you all again._

**Suzy:** _Hey Y/N! So happy you’re doing okay._

**Suzy** : _So what’s up with you and Dan? He seems like kinda distracted…_

            Oh shit…was it something you said?

            **You:** _I’m so sorry! I hope he isn’t mad at me or anything… I told him a lot of personal stuff last night. Do you know if he’s upset with me?_

**Suzy:** _OMG XD Not like that! Sorry, I actually shouldn’t even pry if you two got romantic or anything, I was just wondering._

Oh….OH….

            **You:** _Nothing like that, no… we did talk a lot though… it was so nice._

You were really stunned… the very idea that he might also have feelings for you was crazy. You hid under the blanket in sheer embarrassment… and then started doing research on moving to the West Coast.

 

            At around 2am, you were woken up by your phone buzzing repetitively against the coffee table. You looked over and saw that it was Dan calling you, and you immediately swiped to screen to answer.

            “Hey Dan…” you said sleepily.

            “ _It’s so easy not to tryyyy…”_

“D-dan? Are you….?”

            “ _Let the world go drifting byyy… If you never say helloooo… you don’t have to say goodbyyyeee…”_

You were trying desperately not to start crying, but the more he sang, the harder it got.

            “ _For what good is it to loooove, when the loving always eeeeends? Travel on the road that straaaays, not the one with hill and beeends…”_ Despite your best efforts, you choked out a sob. “Oh god, nonono, shit! I’m sorry!”

            “No, Dan, it’s just… I love that song and I just… you’re really sweet and I was just really unprepared for this.”

            “Thank goodness, all right… I’ve been listening to that soundtrack like all day and…yeah… shit, did I wake you up?” he suddenly sounded very apologetic.

            “Umm, only kinda,” you lied, “I was just drifting off, it’s all right.”

            “All right, well, I gotta go, but um… I’ll text you?”

            You smiled, “Please do! Sleep tight, okay? And don’t worry about calling…I really like it.”

            “You can get pictures on your phone, yea?”

            You giggled softly, “Yeeees…”

            “Awesome, all right, I’m gonna let you go to sleep. Goodnight, Y/N!”

            “Goodnight, Danny,” you waited for him to hang up, and once you phone screen returned to the main screen, you nearly screamed from being so giddy.

            Lying awake a little loner, you started up at the ceiling. “Hey…if you’re up there… … he makes me so happy….”

 

            You slept like a rock that night, much to your surprise, and woke up to see that you have a few new messages from last night, including some pictures.

            **Dan:** _Hope you sleep well!_

**Dan:** _Miss you…_

            Attached was a picture of a very sleepy post-performance Danny; he looked very exhausted and sweaty, but you couldn’t help smiling at his goofy smile. You decided to return the favor.

            **You:** _Good morning, Dan!_ _I miss you too :)_

You also sent a picture of yourself; your bedhead wasn’t nearly as impressive but you looked hilariously sleepy.

            You started getting ready for work, the usual routine, and started making a list of things to research while you were on your lunch break later on. You wore a long-sleeve button down shirt, and opaque stockings that hid your bruises. You still had to take it easy, but you felt more comfortable going out than you did yesterday.

            While you were riding the train to the office, you checked your phone to see if Dan had replied. No messages, no surprise. He was probably still sleeping.

            When you got into the office, you scheduled a meeting with your friend in the HR department, and started cracking down on the long list of things that needed to get done for the day. A few phone calls, data entry, thankfully nothing huge. You were still mentally recovering from the roller-coaster of a weekend, after all.

            Around 11, you noticed Dan had messaged you, and took a minute to check what he said.

            **Dan:** _morning_

**Dan:** _that is a wonderful picture of you_

            **You:** _I don’t know, the one you sent me last night was pretty fantastic_

            You returned to replying to emails and sorting out some documents, and switched your phone on silent for your HR meeting.

            “Hey, Y/N! How was your weekend?” Diane, your friend in HR, asked as she closed the door to her office for some privacy.

            “Ummm, it was a little mixed. I actually have a lot to talk to you about.” You did your best to explain what had happened the other night as calmly as you could. She was extremely sympathetic, and very surprised you didn’t call in sick. “The reason I asked to meet with you, actually, is because I wanted to know if the LA office has any open positions in my department.”

            “Ah…oh! I can call and ask, I actually don’t know… where is this coming from? That’s a big move…”

            “A friend of mine who lives out there suggested it might be a good change. You know it’s been a rough year for me, but, I think this would help me start fresh a little?”

            Diane smiled, and nodded. “Let me call Betty, who is the head of your department for that region.” You nodded, crossing your fingers.

            “Hello, Betty? Hi, this is Diane… yes I know, sorry for calling just as you walked in! I actually had a question for you. I have a wonderful young woman in our office here, she has been here for years and is absolutely fantastic, she wanted me to check if you had any open positions over there? …Yes...oh okay. Well she is currently an associate, but we have been talking about making her an assistant manager since Bob is retiring… Yes… great, I will send over her employee files for you to look at. Thank you…okay…bye.” Diane smiled, and folded her hands on the desk. “So, your promotion was meant to be a surprise, sorry… But they have an employee who is leaving at the end of the month to stay at home with her new baby, but the position is officially “open” yet. So…” she spun a little in her chair to grab a large file with your name. “If you can send me an updated resume, we may be able to do a direct employee transfer.”

            You nodded excitedly, “Definitely, I’ll do it during the rest of my lunch break. Thank you so much, Diane!!” You got up to hug her, and she returned it.

            “I’ll let you know when they’ve confirmed everything, but, I think this is perfect for you! You deserve it, and please enjoy the rest of your day.” You waved as you left her office, and pulled a flash drive out of you purse the second you got to your desk. A few minutes of tweaking, you had sent the resume. You knew it might take the rest of the week, but you anxiously waited for a reply from Diane about the transfer.

            **You:** _Hey…so…I might have some awesome news, but I’m gonna wait until I know 100% it’ll happen…_

            You sent Dan a quick text, and then got up to heat up your lunch in the microwave. When you got back, you opened his reply.

            **Dan:** _Sweet! You should call us later, everyone wants to say hi. :)_

**You:** _Will do_

            The rest of the day was pretty quiet, and once it was 4:57 you began to pack up your stuff, and cleaned up the various sticky notes of what you had gotten done that day.

            Just before shutting down your computer, you checked your email one last time, and you felt your heart stop when you saw you had a new email from Diane.

            _Congratulations, Y/N!_

_Everything is in place, if you are still on board, they said you could start Mid-October. I knew it’s only just September, but I have confirmed with Bob that after next Friday, you will finish with us and have a few weeks to move and settle in there._

            You didn’t even finish reading the email before quickly walking down to Diane’s office, and thanking her and Bob profusely.

            **You:** _Can I call you guys?!_

            You messaged Dan as you left the office, walking to your train.

            **Dan:** _Heck yea!_

            After just one ring, you heard Dan pick up.

            “Hey, you’re on speaker!”

            “HIIII Y/N!” every said in (almost) unison.

            “Hi everyone! How is the drive?” you asked, receiving a chorus of groans. “Sounds fun...”

            “Hey, Dan, you talked to Barry about the thing we talked about right?”

            “Yeah, he asked me about it, sounds awesome!” Barry said.

            “Wait, what thing, what’s going on?” Suzy asked.

            “Woah, wait, does this have to do with the awesomely good news you have?” Dan asked insistently.

            “Ummm.. so I asked about transferring to our office out there, and they have a position opening up in Mid-October…and it’s mine if I want it.”

            You held the phone away from your face a little as everyone cheered loudly. “YEAAAA!”

            “They also said that my last day here will be next Friday, so I have about a month off until I need to start working.”

            “Oh my god, okay, I’m taking you off speaker, hang on…” Danny said, and you heard him fiddle with the phone for a second. “This is so amazing, are you gonna drive cross country?

            “I would if I had a car… shit…I didn’t even think about getting my shit over there.” You really didn’t…this was such a huge decision; maybe you were rushing into this too fast.

            “Shit, we’re pulling up to the theater… can we walk about it tomorrow, or like this weekend?” Dan asked.

            “Yea, yea, go rock their socks off, Sir Daniel Sexbang!” You giggled.

            “I will! Talk to you soon… everybody say bye to Y/N!”

            “Byyyyye!!”

            You hung up just as your train pulled up to the second to last stop before you got off, and the walk home seemed much shorter than usual.

 


	4. All Coming Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan flies over to help you move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (In case it's confusing, it's implied that the reader lives around NYC/NJ)

            That weekend, once the Grumps were back home from their tour, you got Danny’s skype information and the two of you set up a time on Saturday to make plans for the big move.

            “Hey Danny! Are you at the Grump Space?” Once your call was connected, you recognized where he was instantly.

            “Yea! We’re recording a few sessions today, just taking a break for lunch.”

            “But Dan…it’s like 4pm…?”

            “Yeah, yeah, I know…. Hey! So, I was talking to Arin earlier, and I was wondering if you want me to come and help you move?”

            “Ummm..holy shit..are you sure? I mean, I would freaking love that, but…it’s gonna take like a week just to drive across the country.” You were stunned.

            “Yea, Ross and Barry are starting a new Steam Train game, and Arin and I are plowing through a bunch of games this week. I’m gonna book a flight for next Friday, is that cool?”

            “Yeah! I’m gonna start packing this weekend… A friend from college said that they would take over the lease on my apartment, so I’m meeting with her and the landlord next Sunday to hand off the keys and paperwork.”

            “Cool, all right! I hope you are ready for lots of singing in the car!”

            “Oh you are SO on,” you laughed.

            “Hey Dan, you almost done? We gotta start soon,” you heard Arin call from out of the camera’s sight.

            “Yea, hang on man, almost done… all right, uuhhh, we’re gonna be here all night so I’ll say goodnight now.”

            “Ok! Have an awesome Grump session, Danny!”

            He did a little wave, “Bye…” Skype made a weird noise, and you got comfy in bed with your laptop and a glass of wine. You reserved a Uhaul van online, and leave snuggled into bed listening to Skyhill.

 

 

            Work seemed to breeze by that week. You were making all your deadlines as usual, but no new work was being piled on, so you had more time to take a class to help with your promotion in a month.

            Your office phone rang, and it was your new supervisor in LA. “Hello?”

            “Hello, Y/N? We were wondering how early you could potentially start? We would like you to do an least a day or two shadowing the staff member you will be replacing.”

            “Oh! Umm, that you be around the…10 of October?”

            “That would be perfect, yes.”

            You looked at the calendar; that left you with only about 6 days between the estimated amounts of days you would be on the road, if you didn’t stop for too long. “I had anticipated the extra time to settle into the area, but I may be able to do at least the twelth? It’s really hard to say, but I can try to make sure that is the case…”

            “Oh, I see, that’s no problem. We will just have the lady you are replacing come in on just that Monday, we don’t mind paying her for the time. Have a lovely vacation, can’t wait to meet you on the 15th” the lady said.

            “Likewise, I’m really looking forward to working with you! Enjoy your weekend!” You finished saying your goodbyes, and stopped by Diane’s office before leaving with a large bag of your office supplies over your shoulder. “Thank you again for everything, Diane.”

            She smiled bright and got up to wish you well, and see you leave the office. You took the train to the nearest station near the airport, where you had planned to meet Dan. His flight was delayed by about an hour, so you were able to find out which gate he would be at so you could meet him as he left the airport. On your lunch break, you made a cute little sign that said “DANNY AVIDANNY”, and you were so proud of the sign when you saw his face reacting to it. He gave you two big thumbs up as he sprinted toward you with a duffle bag in tow.

            “Hi! Are you ready for some Chinese food at my place?” you asked, giving him a cozy hug.

            “About that… I actually asked my family if we could get dinner with them while we were landing. Umm… I hope you don’t think it’s weird, I just don’t get to see them a lot.”

            You smiled softly, “Oh Danny, of course! That sounds really nice!”

            He sighed deeply in relief, “You’re so awesome, thanks. Actually, they should be here now, let me call my mom quick.” You grabbed one of his bags as the two of you started toward the exit as he dialed his mom.

            “Hello? Hey mom…oh, hey Dana, what’s up? … Oh yea, I didn’t know you were coming that’s awesome! When, I’m gonna have a friend, will there be room in the car? Oh…Oh all right. Cool, so we are walking toward the exit for this building so.. oh I see you!” He waved toward the doors, and when you looked outside, you saw a young woman waving next to a mini-van.

            The two of you picked up the pace to go to the van, and Dan instantly hugged his sister. “Leeeiigh! I missed you! Oh man, is this your girlfriend?”

            The two of your exchanged glances, and he noticed your cheeks blush a hard red. “Uhh, no, well she’s my friend and she’s a girl but I’m here to help her move out to LA…. Hey Debbie and Avi, how are you both?”

            You leaned in to give Dana a hug, and you were hugged back excitedly. “That’s so cool! Hi, you’re Y/N? Leigh told us how excited he was to bring you with us!”

            “I’m really excited to meet you all! Hi!” You helped Dana and Dan load his bags into the van, and soon enough you were exiting the airport grounds.

            “So, Y/N, what do you like to eat? There are a few chain restaurants that we know Dan likes to go to when he’s here; what are you feeling?” Dan’s mom asked from the front seat as you got in the car.

            “Oh…umm, really I don’t have any preference! As long as it’s not sushi then we’re good.”

            “So Dan, what are you feeling after such a long flight?” Avi asked, turning slightly get a good glimpse of you. “Eeeehhh, Dan… you’re friend, she is so cute!”

            Dan facepalmed lightly, but you just smiled. “Thank you Avi, that’s really sweet of you!” This seemed to go over with your family, and Dan seemed a little surprised.

            For dinner, you all eventually settled on a nice brew pub not too far from the airport. Even though you made it clear that you and Dan weren’t dating, they asked a lot of questions like what your job was and were your family is from. You were used to small talk with parents, so these explanations were pretty well-programmed in your brain. And then during dinner, Avi spoke up: “Hey, Y/N, I hope you don’t mind my asking…eehh… how old are you?”

            Shit. You had totally forgotten you were quite a bit younger than Dan… after all he was 37…

            “I’m 25.”

            “Aaaaahhh all right, very nice.” Avi seemed very unphased by this news, but you could feel Dan’s stare peering right into your soul in disbelief. “That’s so great that you’ve had a job for so many years, you must have worked very hard in school.”

            “Yeah, I had really solid grades and a ton of experience. They actually hired me part time during my last semester of school; they’ve been really wonderful.”

            The evening continued pretty uneventful after that, which you were very thankful for. Dan’s family seemed to really like you, and they offered to drop you both off at your apartment after dinner.

            “Thank you again for dinner!” you chimed as you helped Dan get one of his bags out of the trunk.

            “Of course, Y/N, it was our pleasure! Take lots of pictures on the road trip.” Dan’s mom replied, hugging and kissing her son.

            “We will, love you guys,” Dan hugged each of them before the two of you waved them off, lugging his stuff up the stairs to your apartment.

            “Wow, looks like you already did a ton without me!” Dan exclaimed, seeing the stacks of boxes in the living room.

            “Yea, and that’s just about everything except for clothes and a few dishes. I also already donated a ton of stuff, and my parents have my winter clothes right now anyway.” You set his stuff down next to the couch before pulling a bottle of vodka out of the freezer. “You don’t have to, but I figured tonight called for a bit of celebration before we hit the road.”

            “I’ll have a little, sure”. He smiled before stepping into the bathroom for a minute. You poured a bit of vodka and soda into to glasses and set them on the coffee table before going into your room to dig out some pajama pants. Taking off your jeans and t-shirt, you began to messily sort through your duffle of clothes. You finally spotted your favorite grey, cotton pants when you heard “Hey can I b- Oh shit! I’m sorry!” you jumped at the sound of his voice and knocked your head into the wall with a loud _thud_.

            “Ow! Damnit!” You made sure you hadn’t left a dent in the drywall (which you hadn’t) before rubbing your head. It was a little sore, but it wasn’t swelling too much. You pulled the pants up and grabbed an oversized t-shirt.

            “Hey, are you all right?” Dan asked from the other side of the door.

            “Yeah, I’m just looking for a hair-tie…you can come in, it’s okay.” You sat cross-legged on the floor of your room, poking through a toiletry bag for a hair tie. You heard the door creek, and looked up to see a very apologetic Dan, and finally found a small hair band at the bottom of the bag. “I’m not upset, dude.”

            “Are you sure?” you sat down across from you.

            “Yeah, man, I should’ve closed my door, it’s my fault.” You giggled a little bit, “you did scare the absolute crap out of me though.”

            “What was that thud, did something drop?”  Dan looked around a little to see if he could figure out the cause.

            “Nah man, I just hit my head on the wall.” You saw him cover his mouth, and you waved your hand for him to stop. “I’m really okay, I promise.”

            His mouth grimaced to one side, “all right, but I still reserve the right to feel bad.”

            You both settled down on the floor near the coffee table, since your couch was gone, and clinked glasses before taking a swing of the boozy soda.

            “Hey, so I know we talked about stopping in Chicago for a night, but where else did you want to go?” you asked.

            “Ooooh, I don’t know actually… I know a bunch of shit I wanna show you out in LA when we get there, though.”

            You nodded, pulling out you laptop and a couple of blank CD’s. “So, the rental van is gonna have a CD player, wanna pick out some music you want?”

            You took your laptop, “heck yea!”

            You finished off your glass, and got up to get another drink. “Want me to fill your cup?” You offered.

            “Just soda, thanks…” he said, he eyes locked on the screen as he scrolled through your music collection. “You have a lot of stuff I’ve never heard of…”

            “Yeaaah…” you called from the kitchen, “Over by my backpack is my CD case, too, if you wanna pick some of those, too.” You poured your drinks, and returned back over to the table.

            “I’m really digging these movie soundtracks, any that you recommend?” he asked, giving you a sweet smile. It caught you off guard for a moment before you could reply.

            “Umm… yeah… I really love movies…ummm, do you know _American Beauty_?” you said eventually.

            “I’m not sure, its sounds kinda familiar.” He mumbled, clicking the song to listen to it. The resonant piano chords echoed through your laptop speakers, and you felt your cheeks grow hot red. “I, uhhh…take it you like this song?” he teased gently. You hugged your knees, shutting your eyes tightly in a flurry of emotions. “Hey, are you…” Dan placed a hand softly on your shoulder, causing you to bury you face deeper into your hands. In a moment of realization, Dan withdrew his hand, and placed the laptop on the table carefully before turning toward you. “Have you…talked with _anyone_ about this?” he asked, a bit of fear in his voice. You shook your head, and he felt his heart nearly drop to his stomach. “Fuck.”

            You hadn’t allowed the tears to escape your eyes before setting your head into the corner of his neck. “I’m sorry…I’m just so scared.”

            Danny, upon hearing your desperate crying, you pulled you into him to hold you close. “Heeyyy… all right. Let it out.” You took a deep breath in to try and calm you, but you were internally shutting down. “C’mon, tell me about it…it’s ok.”

            You quickly broke apart, reduced down to a sobbing mess. You felt awful, and embaressed… The more you talked about being afraid of falling in love or being guilty for just being happy, the more confused you felt. Words spluttered out of you rapidly, and you could feel him shaking as he held you. “Please… I don’t…I don’t wanna scare you away.”

            You could feel him gasp loudly as he pulled you away so he could look at you straight in the eyes.

            “Never, you absolutely could not ever scare me away… you hear me? I’ve gone through some hell and back and what happened to you was…was…impossibly painful. But you’re still here, and you are trying your hardest, and it’s...” he inhaled deeply. “Fuck… I’m so bad at this…” he brought his face closer to your, not breaking contact with your eyes.  “You deserve to be happy, and I wanna be part of that.”

            Dan caught you as you felt backwards a little, and tucked a section of your hair behind your ear, and then slid his hand behind your head to support it.

            “Ummm… Hi Danny…” you said timidly, and his smile made you feel like you were melting.

            “Hello Y/N…you look really nice this evening.” He cooed.

            “It’s uhh… fancy meeting you here… Do you come around often?” You lifted one of your hands up to his face and outlined his jawline down to his neck and the chest.

            “No actually, not as often as I would like. But…I’d really like to change that.” He looked at you intently, his gaze asking for permission to get closer, and you nodded a little. Your focus shifted from his eyes to his lips, and then back up as you leaned toward him. “Is this…too fast for you?” he asked when your lips broke away.

            You shook you head a little, and leaned back in toward him. You wanted to say something, but your mind was racing and you forgot how to talk…and then you smiled. The edges of your lips twitched slightly when you felt hot tears rise up in your eyes again, but you kept you face buried into his shirt. You felt yourself become sleepy and relaxed, and Dan’s warmth enveloped you before everything faded gently.


	5. Are You Ready?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You and Dan begin the road trip!

            A remix from Animal Crossing startled you awake. You were in your room; a towel folded under your head and a throw blanket covering you. Your head pounded, but you knew you had to get up to get the rental van before noon. You snuck into the living room, and saw Dan comfortably asleep with a Giants beanie and a thick sweatshirt on. You smiled, and wrote a short note and put it on his phone before heading out, letting him sleep a little longer.

            Dan woke up about a half hour later, and saw the note immediately.

            _Hi Dan,_

_You were sleeping pretty deeply, so I am out getting the van, as well as coffee and bagels. See you around 9:30._

_-Y/N_

            He looked at the time; it was just after 9. He smiled and stretched before changing and checking some social media and emails until you got back. When he heard you unlock the door and come in, his face brightened. “Hey, good morning!”

            “Hi, morning! I hope bagels are okay…sorry for falling asleep so early last night…” You set the bag of bagels and two hot coffees on the counter before escaping to the bathroom. “Help yourself, I’ll be right back.”

            He prepared himself a bagel and took a sip from one of the coffee cups. You emerged about a minute later, and drank nearly half of your coffee in one go. “Damn, you got a caffeine fix?” he asked, giggling.

            “Nah, just thirsty…plus I wanna start moving some boxes down sooner than later. Get an early start, ya know?

            You ended up chatting a little during breakfast, and then the two of you started to make trips up and down to the van with boxes. You finished right as the landlord pulled up to the building, and made one last trip up before giving him your keys.

            “You ready?” Dan asked.

            You started into space for a moment before turning the key for the van’s ignition, and smiled at him. “I am…I really am.”                        

            The first day and night of driving was getting through Pennsylvania and Ohio. Both of you talked a lot throughout the first day of driving; the CD’s he had picked out were playing in the background, but you just talked for hours. You talked about your childhoods, college, family, music. You had stocked up on drinks and food for the trip in a small cooler, so you didn’t have to stop too often.

            “Hey, so you obviously know that I used to smoke, but have you ever..?” Dan asked, trying not to pry too much.

            “Hmm? Oh, yeah…I haven’t in a while because I just don’t know anyone to get it from. I would only do it every couple of weekends except for college…” You laughed a little thinking back on it, “my sophomore year was really busy, and the second semester I would smoke outside my dorm, oh, probably three nights a week? Which was a lot for me at the time… I was really opposed to it for a while because of an ex-boyfriend.”

            “What’d he do?” he asked.

            “God this is so petty..okay… so we had been dating at least a year at this point, but went to different high schools. I’ve known this kid since middle school, so we were pretty close. So the summer before my senior year of high school he got a job as a lifeguard, but the job was like a 4 hour drive away. Sometimes he would just spend his weekends up there, so I didn’t see him too much. And his phone had like no reception up there, so some nights I would call the payphone at the campground! Anyway, so toward the end of the summer, I found out that he was spending his weekends, even the ones where he was home but didn’t tell me, he was getting high with his friends. A lot of his money that wasn’t going straight into savings was used on pot…”

            “Ooohh… so you were against it because you were pissed at him, not the idea of getting high itself…” he realized.

            “Yeah…pretty much.”

            “Man, he sounds like such an asshole!”

            “Not anymore…” he looked at you, confused. “We’ve made up since then. It was a pretty upsetting breakup, but a couple months after I was dating another guy, he apologized profusely. Wanna hear something hilarious?”

            “Sure!”

            “Three summers after that had happened, he came over with one of our other friends from middle school, and we all smoked pot out in a hay field together. We hadn’t seen each other in years, and it was really awesome.”

            The two of you talked for a few more hours, until you hit the border of Ohio. You switched seats with Dan so he could drive the rest of the way to the motel outside of Chicago. You were completely exhausted from driving for so many hours, and your brain felt a little fried. You had been falling asleep against the car door, and woke up in a daze to find that you were pulling into the parking lot of a relatively new motel. Dan disappeared for a little while, and then returned with a key. “Hey, you ready to go in?” He asked, opening your door to walk you in. You stepped carefully and slowly into the room before flopping across the bed. You managed to crawl up so your head was on a pillow, and you felt tired and silly.

            “Hey Daaannnyyyy…” you lulled your head to the side so you could see him where he was sitting on the couch. “Whatcha doing over there?”

            “Goodnight, Y/N…” he smiled, teasingly.

            You pouted a little, “the bed is pretty comfy.”

            You could sense the indecision in his face, “Naahh, I uh… I think I should stay over here….sleep tight, ok? It’s your turn to drive in the morning.”

            “Well then I’m taking the couch…you slept on my floor last night.” You remarked stubbornly.

            You heard him take a big sigh before he finally gave in. “Fine, all right,” He slid above the covers, letting his head sink into the enormously fluffy pillows. He hummed contently and shifted his body a little to get snuggled into a comfy spot.

            “Goodnight, Dan…” you mumbled quietly.

            “G’night…”

           

            You somehow managed to wake up before your alarm, so you decided to go for a quick jog before you spent the day in Chicago. After writing a short note for Dan, you grabbed your headphones from the car and set off for a short jog. During your run, you noticed a Dunkin Donuts on the opposite side of the road from the motel, so on your way back you stopped there to get the two of you coffee. You knocked on the door before entering, and smiled when you saw a sleepy lump of not-so-grump curled up in the very middle of the bed.

            “Mmmmm hiiiii…” he said.

            “Good thing I’m a morning person; I got us some coffee.” You set the coffee and some of the leftover bagels on the desk before setting down your phone and the keys. “I’m gonna shower, but if you’re able to crawl out of bed before I get out, help yourself to breakfast.” You took out a change of clothes from your bag and took a nice hot shower. You picked out a comfy sundress and a pair of knee-length leggings. You couldn’t deny that you were intentionally trying to look cute, but it felt weird to you. Even when you got dressed up for the Grumps’ live show it made you feel jittery and self-conscious.

            When you got out of the bathroom, you were surprised to see that Dan was not only up and awake, but he had gotten dressed. “Hey…” you waved a little before throwing your dirty clothes into a plastic shopping bag in your duffle.

            “Hiya!” when he looked up his face froze in a half smile, and then expanded into a wide, tilted smile when his eyes met yours. “You…uhhh…ready?”

            “Almost, I still need to eat.” You playfully stuck your tongue out as you grabbed a bagel and your coffee and sat next to him on the couch.

            The motel let you leave your van there, and the two of you rode the train into downtown. You walked along the lakefront, went to the Field Museum, and met up with some of Dan’s friends for lunch before the two of you went back to get the van. It was already 4pm when you took off, but it had been an awesome day. Since you were driving to the next motel, you gave your phone to Dan so he could send his parents and the other Grumps some pictures.

            “Which one do you think would be best for Instagram?” he asked, scrolling through some of the pictures that you had taken.

            “Oooooh, that’s a tough one… do you want silly or serious?” you asked.

            “Hmmm…” he continued to scroll through the pictures. “Probably silly, but one of each wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

            “For serious, there is a really awesome picture of you when we were at the waterfront.” You waited a moment for him to find it.

            “Is it…ooohhh yea I like that one! What about for silly…there are so many good options… I wish I brought the Sexbang suit, that would’ve been awesome for our Ninja Sex Party account! Aaaaaand, here we go…yes!” He sent two photos to his phone to post through his account, and then loaded one of the mix CD’s he had made into the stereo. “So what 5-star accommodations shall we be enjoying tonight?”

            “Can you get directions to the Days Inn outside of Omaho, Nebraska?”

            “You got it…”


	6. May I?

            The Days Inn was much nicer than the motel, and since you got there so late the lady at the service desk gave you a room with two beds. When you got up the next morning, you felt very refreshed.

            You woke up early again, but decided to just take a quick shower and then check a few emails. You got a little side-tracked during your shower and began to sing a little as you washed up. There were a lot of songs you had listened to in the car the day before that you didn’t sing along with, and now they were stuck in your head.

            “ _...oh dream maker, you heart breaker; wherever you’re going…I’m going your way.”_  You realized you hadn’t grabbed your clothes, so you stopped singing and opened the bathroom door as quietly as you could. Dan was turned the other way, and he seemed to be asleep. You continued humming the next verse as you stepped out of the bathroom in a towel to get some comfy driving clothes. You found a pair of shorts and tank top, as well as underwear, put them on pretty quickly. You went back into the bathroom to brush your teeth and brush your hair out. “ _We’re after the same rainbow’s end…waiting ‘round the bend, my Huckleberry friend…Moon river…and me.”_

            You let your hang down to dry, and when you went back into the rest of the hotel room you froze for a second. Danny had gotten out from under the blankets, and was lying flat on his back.

            What’s more is that he was only wearing some boxers.

            You stared at him for a couple minutes before shaking yourself a little and pulling open your laptop to log into the hotel’s wifi. You checked Instagram for a little while, and saw the two pictures he had posted the day before. The serious one that you had recommended looked really nice; he was looking out over the lake, smiling. He had edited the picture so it was very saturated, making his smile shine even more brightly. The other, of course, was the picture you took of him humping a bench…. Nice.

            You sifted through some social media sites until about 8:30, and you closed your laptop to go get the hotel-provided breakfast. “I’m gonna grab some free food, I’ll meet you out there?” You asked, grabbing your card key and phone.

            Dan rolled over and stretched. “Give me a sec to put on a shirt.” He said groggily. You watched him, amused, get a loose-fitting _Rush_ t-shirt from his bag and throw on his flip-flops.

            “Ready for some coffee and muffins?”

            “Totally.”

            The two of you went to the lobby to find it to be nearly empty, and helped yourselves to coffee, fruit, and the sweet surprise of pancakes. Each of you grabbed a short stack of them before sitting down and looking over a map you printed out.

            “So today we’re driving down I-80 to Grand Junction, Colorado. Probably stopping in Denver if we hit weather since there will be a lot of mountain driving.”

            Dan was a little more conscious after a few sips of coffee, and nodded. “Seems do-able. So we’ll switch around the border of Colorado?”

            “If you’d like, I really like driving the first leg since I’m way more awake than you in the morning.” You joked, taking a big sip of hot coffee.

            He raised his hands defensively, smiling, “Eh, it all works out nicely.”

            You scarfed down breakfast, and sneaked a few baked goods back to the room to eat on the road. After a couple minutes of collecting together your clothes and toiletries, the two of you were once again in the rental van headed West.

            Once you got on the highway, you were relieved to have a few hours of mindless driving.

            “Any music requests?” Dan asked, flipped through the book-like CD case. “We’ve got…some soundtracks, pop hits from the early 2000’s, some alternative…man what the fuck don’t you have?”

            “Unfortunately all of my Ninja Sex Party music is in digital form, but yea, there’s a lot…” you admitted.

            “Hmmm…” he continued to flip through the dozens of CD’s. “What’s ‘Karaoke Warm-Up Mix’?” he queried.

            You squinted your eyes for a moment, and then replied “I used to do karaoke a lot, and I had a playlist of songs I would sing while getting ready to go out...”

            His eyes lit up and he loaded the disc into the stereo, “I _need_ to know what’s on here...” You were extremely embarrassed, but he seemed very eager.  The intro to Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” began playing, and Dan clapped his hands together in excitement. “Oh HELL yeah!”  The bassline repeated before the vocals started, and you mouthed the words; some things you could forget, but song lyrics would never be one of them. “Hey, come on, you know you wanna sing it out.”

            “… _don’t do anything at all. Go ask Alice, when she’s ten feet tall. And if you go chasing rabbits, and you know you’re going to fall…tell ‘em a hookah smoking caterpillar has given you the call…Call Alice, when she was just small…_ ”

            Dan cheered, and joined in with you on the next verse, even though the pitches were a little different for his singing range.

            “ _When the men on the chess board get up and tell you where to go…and you’ve just had some kind of mushroom, and your mind is moving low… Go ask Alice, I think she’ll know…when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead. And the white knight is talking backwards, and the red queen is off with her head.”_

Dan dropped out to let you finish out the song. “ _Remember what the dormouse said: feed your head! Feed your head!”_

            “Damn girl! I knew it! You can sing! You’ve totally been holding out on me, goddamn…” You couldn’t help but smile back.

            “I’m not great, but…”

            “No way, you’re really good. Like, seriously…” The next song played, which was an indie-pop song he didn’t recognize, so you asked him to skip it. There were a few other rock songs, some jazz standards, a few cheesy pop songs. The CD finished off with “Shadowboxer” by Fiona Apple, which you liked because it complimented your lower range really well.

            When the song ended, the car was quiet except for the low rumble of driving fast down the highway, and you looked over to see Dan giving you a gentle smile. You only glanced for a second, keeping your focus on the road. “Hey…” you squeaked softly.

            “You are absolutely beautiful, you know…” your cheeks because hot and flushed, and you swore your stomach must’ve flipped inside out.

            “I…you are… ummm…shit…” You flipped the blinker handle and pulled, and Dan’s face was covered in concern. Once you were pulled over with your hazard lights blinking, you turned to face Dan (or at least rotated around so you would be, you still found yourself trying desperately not to look him in the face quite yet.) “I really like you Danny… like a lot. You’re really handsome, and funny, and consideration, I just…” you finally lifted your face to make eye contact. “I can’t do a fling, or anything that isn’t full commitment. I’ve already been down that road and I’ve had enough heartbreak in my life to know that I won’t be happy if the other person isn’t one-hundred percent dedicated. I mean, you’ve seen me at nearly my worst, and I really feel like I can trust you…and I really… I really want you.”

            Dan leaned in toward you, and took your hands in his. “I’m not looking for temporary, I’m sick of that too. I really…” he glanced downwards at his hands, smiling but breathing hard. “I really need someone who can go slow with me, who can handle that I do so much crazy shit and travelling and I can’t always make time but damn will I try.”

            You nodded slowly, and slowly folded your fingers between his, squeezing his hands gently to get his attention. “Dan…”

            “Yea?”

            “May I kiss you?”

            He looked like an uncomfortable mix of confused, scared, thrilled, and entirely turned on. He nodded a little, and both of you were drawn in towards each other. You were nervously staring at his lips before taking a deep breath, and then closed your eyes.

            He was warm, and his scent was intoxicatingly comforting. His stubble scratched your cheeks a little, but you didn’t care. The knot in your stomach grew more unpleasant, until you moved your lower lip a little to deepen the kiss. Both of you shook a little, as if static energy was passing back and forth between you. Dan let go of your hands, using one of his to hold your shoulder and the other to cup your cheek. You heard a small moan, and then realized that you had made it. Biting your lip, you opened your eyes to make sure he wasn’t deterred by it.

            But you knew he wasn’t; he smiled at you, and whispered something in your ear about how cute you were before leaning back in for another kiss. The pressure in your abdomen finally disappeared, but you could still feel your heart pounding heavily. After a few minutes, you both finally calmed down and opened your eyes again. You took a water bottle from the cooler at his feet, gulping down most of it and then offering him some.

            You gave yourself another minute to cool off before starting up the van, and getting back on the road.

            _Holy shit…_ you thought to yourself… _we cannot get to the hotel fast enough._


	7. Going Slow

It was pitch black when you pulled up to the small hotel, and checked in pretty quickly before both of you exhaustedly threw your travel bags onto the floor. You exchanged glances with Danny, and he took a step toward you. You felt his warms hands lead you toward him by your elbows, and then slide down to hold your hands. You were just short enough that his chin sat comfortably on your head when you leaned into his chest. You tightly held him closer, and you could hear his breathing hitch when your breasts pressed up against him.  
After regaining his breath, Dan lifted one of his hands to your cheek, and both of you leaned in. You felt like you were on fire, and you were physically shaking.   
“You okay?” Dan asked, breaking away from the kiss for a moment. You nodded vigorously, still planting kisses on his cheek and down his neck, and he hummed in pleasure.  
Your hands began exploring, and both of you began to shift towards the bed. Straddling on his lap, you invested every cell in your body into this moment; kissing him, letting yourself feel happier than you ever had. Before you knew it, you were both removing your shirts. You felt a little shy and exposed at first, but the way his eyes lovingly absorbed your figure, all you felt was the growing excitement that crawled across your skin. Taking hold of his wrists, you brought them up toward your chest, stopping them right in the center of each breasts. You took a shuddered breath as he squeezed a little, and then lifted them upwards. He repeated this motion, squeezing just a little harder each time. After a few minutes of feeling him caress your breasts, you involuntarily let a gasping moan escape your lips. He kissed your cheek, and you nearly swooned.  
Looking him straight in the eyes, you slipped the bra straps off to the side, and reached behind your back to unclasp it. His hands followed yours; feeling the soft dip of your waist and rubbing your back. When your bra snapped in a little after you had undone it, you took a moment to remove it completely. You shivered as Dan dragged the tips of his fingers around from your back to your sides, and then across your chest right to your nipples. He took each one in between two fingers, nudging them enough to get you to make noise again. And you did.  
When he began playing with your nipples, you were moaning with each exhale. You winced a little from the pressure building up inside you, and you reached down for his belt. He giggled a little as you removed it eagerly, and rolled onto his back to let you remove his pants. You looked down at him, sleepy but happy, lying on the bed underneath you. You removed your shorts and climbed on top of him to feel the heat exchange between your bodies. You nuzzled your nose against his cheek and then delicately kissed him.   
“Would you mind if…if we stop here for now?” Dan asked, looked very nervous.  
“Of course not,” you smiled in reply, resting your arms and burrowing under the blanket next to him. You were still holding his hands, and getting comfortable in bed instantly made you sleepy once more. “Mmmmm goodnight…” you said, kissing one of his hands.  
Dan kissed yours back, “Thank you, sweet dreams…” 

You woke up to the smell of coffee, and looked over to see Dan typing away at his laptop. He was still mostly naked, but he had his large framed glasses on. A steaming cup of coffee was beside him on the end table.  
You groaned a little as you just barely opened your eyes to look up. “Hey, morning…” his chocolatey voice greeted.  
You smiled and gave a little wave before stretching your arms out and rolling your head to stretch your neck as well. Dan set his laptop onto the other bed so he was undistracted. “So… who is ready for an exciting day of driving?” He joked.  
You look at him, squinting your eyes and wrinkling your nose, “Oh, well I’m sorry you have to sit on your butt all day…”  
“Speaking of butts…” Dan smiled as he snuggled up next to you, and wrapped his hands around you, and you took a deep breath in as you felt his fingertips send sparks through his skin. You snuck a kiss on his cheek before slipping out of his embrace so you could run to the bathroom.   
After relieving yourself and brushing your teeth, you came back out to see that Dan had put on his signature silk robe and was lounging across the now-made bed. You smirked, “As much as I want to stay here and have motel sex, we gotta get going…” you said, a little disappointed, as you pulled a maxi-skirt and halter tank-top out of your bag and threw them on. Dan rolled his eyes in defeat, and threw on a fresh Rush t-shirt and some khaki shorts (and finished off with sunglasses).   
You had forgotten that you were now in Colorado, the trip was going a lot faster since your goal was just to get to California as quickly as possible so you could get settled. If you didn’t stop, you’d make it to LA by evening, but you knew that traffic around Las Vegas and getting into LA would be tricky. You brought your bags to the car while Dan went to the front desk to check out. You looked around at the mountains and woods, reminded of the one thing you missed when you moved closer to a big city. You leaned up against the van, staring out at the colorful sunrise over the mountains.   
“Hey, you ready to get some breakfast?” Dan asked you from behind, and when you jumped from being startled you knocked your head against the van. “Shit! Sorry… you okay?” he asked, approaching you to make sure.  
You nodded, and giggled a little. “Yea, I’m good. I just scare easily.” You rubbed your head a little, and pulled out your phone to see what was nearby in terms of food. “We’ve been eating a lot of snack food and bagels, wanna find a diner and get something a little more satisfying?”  
“Heck yes, but my treat, you’ve been paying for my food and I want to treat you to celebrate our last day on the road.” You smiled softly as he looked at you, and you lost your entire train of thought for a moment.  
“Uhhh…okay…”  
About an hour heading west from the hotel, you found a small family-owned diner; it was like stepping into a movie, it looked like it had barely been touched since the 80s. An older lady waved the two of you to a table, and each of you took either side of a small booth which was already supplied with a large pot of coffee. You ordered some eggs, toast, and a side of fruit cocktail, while Dan got eggs and a short stack of pancakes. “I’ve got a good feeling that their pancakes are gonna be awesome!”  
“So, hopefully, we won’t hit too much traffic, but there is a real possibility of us getting in at like midnight.” You said, pouring yourself some coffee, and then gesturing to Dan if he’d like some.  
He nodded, and you poured some into his hug. “That’s all right… hey, if that’s the case, do you wanna go to the Grump office? They’re doing a late night tonight, and I’m sure everyone would want to see you!”   
You finished pouring, and then added a ton of cream and sugar to your mug. “Are you sure? Won’t we be exhausted and tired?”  
“Yeah!” he stopped to take a sip of coffee, “That’s like the perfect time to play video games, it’s hilarious!”   
You couldn’t help but smile, “I am totally not a night owl, but I’ll try.”  
Both of your enjoyed your breakfast immensely, and each had two huge cups of coffee before deciding to get back on the road. Dan left money for the bill and a substantial tip before you piled back into the van.


	8. All I Have to Say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry it's a little short, enjoy!)

            It felt weird that it was your last day driving after what seemed like an eternity, but the last day of the road trip was definitely the prettiest. Gorgeous mountains, a little bit of driving through the desert, and by the time you hit LA it was late at night and the city was lit up brightly. You stopped a few times to take pictures of the scenery, and Dan took over driving once you hit the border of California. Your eyes couldn’t help but soak in every last detail of the scenery; it was so beautiful, and open, and you felt an odd peaceful calm wash over you when you saw the ocean from the window. Dan took a “scenic” and slightly longer route to Glendale, and you couldn’t believe that this is where you were going to be living.

            “Hey, before we head to the Grump space, I wanna show you something…” Dan said, pulling the van over to a road shoulder next to a couple of other cars. “There is this one beach that I like going to at night, and the cops don’t care as long as you don’t smoke or make any noise… and if the moon is out, it is seriously gorgeous.” He said, winking at you.

            You nodded, a little shyly “Okay…”

            He turned the key to shut off the engine, and the two of you jumped out. “Hey, you got a flashlight?” he asked, looking over the edge of the steep cliff. “The trail can get a little scary at night.”

            You squinted your eyes, thinking for a moment, and then opened up one of the back doors to get into a small tool bag you kept with you. Pulling out the flashlight, you flipped the button, and the light flickered on. “Aww, sick! Perfect! C’mon!” He grabbed the flashlight, and your hand, and lead you down a sandy path down to the beach.

            “Geez, be careful Danny!” you squeaked as you slid around the tight corners of the path.

            “It’s worth it, I promise!”

            When you reached the bottom, your mouth hung open. It was a small beach, large scraggly rocks jutting out of the water, but the ocean itself was calm and cool. The salty smell was intoxicatingly inviting…but the moon was incredible. The thick crescent and the infinite stars was bright in the clear skies, and the moonlight reflected gracefully off of the small waves of the vast ocean. Startling you, Dan reached around from behind and held you closely as you took in the view.

            “Wow…” was all that your gaping mouth could utter.

            “I know…” he whispered into your ear in reply. You shivered a little from the sensation, and leaned into him a little more closely. You could feel his warm breath caress your neck, and felt your heart start racing, fiercely beating in your chest. “Can I…ask you something, Y/N?”

            You turned your face towards him, and then your whole body, still locked in his embrace. “Yes?”

            He stepped away a little, “Do you….wanna sit by the water and talk for a bit?”

            You weren’t quite sure what you were expecting him to say, but you smiled and nodded. “Yea, sure.”

            You both removed your shoes, sitting right at the edge of where the water came up the highest. The sand under you was dry, and the ocean tickled your feet whenever a larger wave crashed upon the shore.

            The exhaustion of it being so late at night after getting up so early started to catch up with you now that you were sitting. You took in a few deep breaths to try and calm your quickly beating heart, but it was little use.

            “So…I wanted to ask you how you’re feeling about all this… I know it’s been a crazy couple of months, let alone the year you’ve had…”

            You smiled, but kept your gaze out over the water. “I’m definitely scared… kinda nervous about this new job, being away from my family… but having people here who I already know and can call if I need anything is really nice.”

            “Yeah! I remember when I moved out here, I was fucking _terrified!_ But I knew a few people out here, like Arin… but I was more worried about money than being on the other side of the country. It was a rough time…”

            You looked over, and could seem him lost in thought as he continued. “I remember being scared because I couldn’t think of anything to write songs about. Here I am, all these new experiences and people, but I was too scared about personal shit to sit down and hash out any new lyrics. But…I think you’ll really like it here.” He giggled. “I hope at least, since we already moved all your shit out here!”  The two of you continued giggling until you felt his hand touch yours, and you froze. “So like… I don’t know if you’re ready for anything serious or…shit, sorry…I’m so nervous I just-“

            You reached a hand up to cup his face. “It’s okay, take your time…”

            He smiled, shutting his eyes and reaching a hand up to hand yours against his cheek. “I really like you, Y/N…more than like… It’s weird, I just… I feel really happy seeing you so happy and I get all flustered thinking about you and…”

            You leaned in and planted a small kiss on his cheek. It seemed to caught him off guard, because he immediately went silent and stared into your eyes, smiling. Turning toward you, he placed one hand on your hip and the other held your hand.

            “ _I’ve had time to write a book about the way you act and look…But I haven’t got a paragraph…words are always getting in my way. Anyway I love you…that’s all I have to tell you…That’s all I’ve got to say…”_ Dan sung gently as you both rocked back and forth on the sand. Breathing heavily, you leaned into him on the balls of your feet, and kissed his soft lips. As he returned it, you didn’t even care how scratchy his stubble was. You just wanted to stay like this for as long as you could.

            When your faces finally eased away you were still locked on to his warm eyes, looking at you with so much mirth. “I….love you too, Dan.” You held each other closely for a little while longer, listening to the waves rise up onto the shore.

            You gestured your head to the side, leading him back up the path to the car. When he started the engine, the clock dial turned on, _3:21_.

            Dan pulled out his phone, and called Arin. “Hey, are you guys still Grumping? Yea…yea there was a lot of traffic, but we’re pretty close by now. Cool, all right, we’ll be there soon.” He shut off the phone, and shifted the stick into reverse to pull out of the parking area.


	9. Cream of the Crop-top

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sorry this took so long, I was out of town and without my computer for a week for a wedding!)

            Both of you pulled up to a pretty plain looking building, but you could you were at the right place with how excited Dan was. You pulled you up to the front door and exclaimed his arrival loudly.

            “HEEEEYYYYY WHAT’S HAPPENING?!” Dan ran ahead, dropped your hand, to give Arin a huge hug, nearly picking him up. The office felt very cozy, with the kitchen and common space decorated with a lot of cool posters and memorabilia. Barry, who looked very tired, came up to you.

            “The house has been so quiet, I’m so glad you guys are finally back.” You hugged him, smiling.

            “It’ll be nice to not be driving all day tomorrow…one more day of that and I thought I would go crazy!” You two of you chuckled until Arin and Dan came over and Arin was rambling on about something…

            “…and the zoo, and we gotta bring her to Natural History Museum, and…” he gasped for an extended period of time as he inhaled. “HAVE YOU BEEN TO DISNEYLAND?!”

            You felt extremely shy with everyone looking at you in anticipation. “…No…?”

            Arin proceeded to screech like a harpy, “Y/N GUESS WHAT WE ARE DOING TOMORROW OH MY GOD DAN LET’S BUY TICKETS RIGHT NOW!” You wondered how he could possibly have this much energy…and you guessed it was because he was actually very tired.

            “Calm down, man, we gotta unpack tomorrow and get Y/N settled in. We’ll do Disneyland this week, though,” he winked at you, “I promise.”

            Arin finally calmed down enough so you could give him a hug, feeling extremely tired yourself. Since Barry had to bring a very sleepy Arin home, you and Dan beat him back to the house they rented together. You grabbed your backpack and a couple of smaller boxes, and caught up with Dan who was already unlocking the door. You stepped in behind him, and nearly cried when you saw the coffee table.

            There was a small wrapped gift, a small vase with a few yellow and pink carnations, and a sign that said “Welcome Home, Y/N!”

            You set your stuff down and approached the table, your hands covering your mouth. Dan voice came from behind you, “this is from Barry and me, but you can go ahead and open it.”

            You sat on the couch, and tore the gift wrap off of the box. Inside was a keychain with two keys, and a Perler-bead Napstablook from _Undertale_. You looked up at Dan, who was smiling brightly despite also being pretty sleepy. You got up off the couch and jumped into him for a hug, sending him stumbling backwards a little. “I take it you like it?”

            You nodded, still smushing your face into you his chest, “Thank you so much…”

            Once you pulled away, he brought you upstairs and showed you your new room. “Since you’re the only girl, we figured you may want this bedroom so you can have your own bathroom.”

            Your mouth dropped “Whoa, wait, no, that’s totally not fair!”

            “All the rooms are pretty much the same size, the hall bathroom is where most of our stuff is anyway. This had been a guest bedroom since our bathroom is gross.” He giggled mischievously, and all you could do is smile while shaking your head.

            “I’ll take your word for it… at least I don’t have to go and buy a bed, now… I do need to figure out which box I put my sheets in, though…”

            “Ehhh don’t worry about it for now. We have the van until tomorrow afternoon, so we should get some sleep.” You nodded, and rubbed your eyes. “Thank you for everything…you and Barry, this really means a lot to me.”

            He softly kissed the top of your head, “Of course…sleep tight, Y/N.”

            “You too, Danny…” you waved to him as he closed the door.

 

            You had a hard time sleeping, and after several attempts, you decided to just save yourself time by moving a few boxes inside while you were riled up with energy. The sun had already risen anyway, so you threw on some yoga shorts and an _Alice in Wonderland_ 8-bit themed shirt, and attached your new key to your keyset, which also had the key to the van. One by one, you brought some boxes up to your new room, and a few were left downstairs for either the kitchen or living room.

            About halfway through unloading, you were bringing a load in when you saw Barry standing sleepily in the kitchen. You smiled and waved, and he waved back, and then returned to staring at the coffee maker as it gurgled. You continued to unload, and during one of your trips, you talked briefly about when the rental van was due back at the LA branch. You were very nearly done when Dan eventually came down.

            “Morning guys…” he said, waving to you and Barry as he went into the kitchen.

            “Morning, Danny!” you chirped a little too gleefully. You noticed him wince a little from your volume. “Sorry… I’ve been awake for a while. Barry and I are going to bring the van back in about an hour if you want to come.”

            He woke up a little more, rubbing his temples. “But… we still need to…unload.” His eyes fluttered open a little more, and he noticed some of the boxes in the living. “Have you been…how many have you…?

            “Just a few more left, sorry you missed all the fun. But later you can help me do boring stuff like unpack all of my stuff and get gifts I brought you two.”

            “Awww…” Barry turned to you, “you didn’t to get us anything.”

            “I wanted to, for everyone, and I got Dan something special for driving over here with me.” You winked at him, and you swore you saw he pink get a little pink.

            “I’m going to get ready for the day, doing editing with Vernon after we get the van. Did you decide you wanted to come back here, or…?”

            Dan raised his arm, as if he was 12 and raising his hand in school. “I’m gonna… take her downtown and show her around the area. Arin and Suzy are gonna hang with us and we’ll see you at the Grump Space later on.”

            “Sounds like a plan…” Barry said, finishing off his coffee before going upstairs to change.

            You followed Dan into the kitchen, attempting to not giggle at how messy but well-rested he looked. “So I get a surprise…huh?” he asked.

            “Yeah, of course you do. A few, actually…” you teased.

            You went back out to get the last few boxes while Dan ate breakfast. You didn’t bring a ton of furniture, but you did bring all of your books, games, and movies, and they weighed a _ton_. They were all in the last few boxes, and not eating breakfast was finally catching up with you. You felt sore and crampy, but after the last box was placed in the living room, you sat on the floor and just panted in exhaustion. You were tired, but satisfied that you were done with the hard part.

            After eating and showering, you and Dan drove the van to the rental place with Barry right behind in his car. Thankful that you set aside extra money, the rental cost a little more than you had anticipated. Barry dropped you and Dan off around downtown Glendale, and the two of you walked around a little before meeting up with Arin and Suzy.

            “So you start your new job in a couple weeks, right?”

            “Yeah! I’m really excited; this is the first promotion I’ve gotten since I started working for this company… I still need to figure out which bus to take though.”

            “We’ll have time for that, I’m sure… Still wanna do Disneyland this week?” the two of you found a bench in the park where you were all meeting, and sat down to chat.

            “I really can’t wait, like seriously, I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to animated stuff. Disney, Bluth, you name it.”

            “So…” Dan started, scratching his head through the mess of chocolate curls, “Now that we _are_ finally here, I believe I still owe you a date…”

            “Ummm… yeah! Any nights where you aren’t doing Game Grump stuff?” you asked, trying not to sound too eager. You were still a little shaky on the dating thing, but you desperately wanted to kiss him again.

            “I…shit, I actually don’t know…” he pulled out his phone, opening up a calendar. “Cuz everybody’s coming along for the Disney trip, but… we miiight need to do an early-afternoon thing.” He looked extremely disappointed, so you reached over to hold his hand and placed your head on his shoulder.

            “That sounds awesome to me…” you smiled up at him, and he seemed a little better.

            “Heeeyyyy Y/N! Dan!!” You heard Suzy call both of you from about a dozen yards away. Both of you stood up, and the day seemed to fly by from there. You went to the Museum of Neon Art, a few parks and smaller shops, and Suzy convinced you to buy some new clothes to match the weather in California. You felt bad that the guys were getting dragged clothes shopping, but they seemed fine goofing off with each other.

            “Suzy… are you sure about this? I feel super exposed.” You called from inside a dressing room stall.

            “Yeeeees you have to own a crop top, it will look to cute on you!”

            You took a deep sigh, “all right, but I’m not wearing the skirt, because you would totally see my ass poke out the bottom.”

            You pulled away the curtain, and Suzy squealed in excitement. “YES! You need to get this shirt… hey guys, check out Y/N!!”

            As they came over, you turned and looked at yourself; the outfit was actually pretty darn cute on you. You wore black and white striped crop top with off-shoulder short sleeves (with your lacy bra straps showing) and sky blue shorts that came up just under your belly button. You felt pretty self-conscious, but it was slowly going away. The guys came over, and the look on Dan’s face was incredibly adorable.

            “I’m gonna see if we can pay and you can wear them out of the store!” Suzy turned away to go talk to the cashier.

            “Next she’ll be giving you a make-over, I hope you’re aware…” Arin smirked. “So get ready!”

            Dan was still a little awestruck, which made you feel a little better. “Are you sure it doesn’t look…I don’t know… weird?” You asked both of them.

            “Nahh, girls wear this kind of stuff all the time out here…if you feel that uncomfortable you can change, though.” Arin insisted.

            “I’ll…give it a chance at least. I just think I…” you turned around and looked in the mirror, and paused for a moment. “I’ll try anything once, I guess.”

            Suzy came back over, “Sephora, next?” she asked, excitedly. You exchanged smiles with Arin.

            “Uhhh…I still need to pay though…”

            “I already did, think of it as an early birthday gift.”

            Shit.

            “Wait, your birthday’s coming up? Why didn’t you say anything?” Arin asked.

            “Geez, don’t you people check Facebook? It’s why I asked to schedule Disneyland for Tuesday!” Suzy smiled, and the four of you left the store to follow her to Sephora.

            Dan was still kinda quiet, you figured he was just absorbing everything…but you wondered if he was upset you didn’t tell him. You and Dan walked side by side a few paces behind Suzy and Arin, and after a couple minutes of walking you finally spoke up.

            “I’m…sorry I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t want it to be a big deal with everything else going on.” You saw his eyebrows furrow a little.

            “You don’t need to be sorry, I totally get that sort of thing.” He took your hand in his as you walked, and he leaned over to say something out of Suzy and Arin’s earshot. “You look gorgeous today, by the way…”

            Once Sephora was in sight, Suzy tugged you away from Dan, and it looked like they went to another store while Suzy used the sample makeup to give you a full makeover. All of you met back up to grab something to eat before going to the GrumpSpace.


	10. Pizza and Confessions

            “What is everyone in the mood for? Thai food, pizza, burgers…?” Arin asked, throwing a small pile of takeout menus on the table. Arin and Dan had just finished recording for a few hours, while you helped Suzy with a few of her videos. Meanwhile, Barry and Ross were dicking around at their desks trying to figure out why the game they were playing had crashed.

            “I desire carbs, I don’t care what form.” Barry said with a very fake-sounding British accent.

            “Y/N? What are you in the mood for?” Dan asked.

            You shrugged your arms, “What is kind of a California staple that I absolutely need to try?”

            “Fish tacooooossss!!” Ross yelled from across the room.

            “Uuuummmmm... maybe in like a week, I don’t know how I feel about that combination.”

            “What about California-style pizza? The nearest place doesn’t do delivery, but Arin and I could go get it.”

            Everyone eventually agreed, and they voted on three different kinds of pizza to accommodate everyone. Arin and Dan ended up starting another game, so you went with Suzy to go pick up dinner.

            “Thank you again for everything, Suzy.” You said, getting into her car.

            She revved the engine and pulled away. “Hey, of course! I love doing makeovers, and you deserve some pampering…” she trailed off for the second, the smile on her face fading away. “So listen…I hope you don’t mind, but Dan told me a little bit about your past. He only told me, as far as I know, but while we were finishing the tour it seemed to really affect him.”

            You stared down at your fidgeting fingers, “Nah, I don’t mind. I just try not to bring it up. I’ve gotten enough condolences about it, and I just…” You could already feel the uncomfortable tingling in your nose and cheeks that came before you cried. You took a deep silent breath before continuing, “I’m trying really hard to move past it, because I know he would want me to, ya know?”

            Suzy bit her lip, “I don’t know how he acts around you without us, but Dan like, _really_ likes you…”

            You smiled, closing your eyes as a couple of tears made their way to the corner of your eyes. “I really like him, too…”

            “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but during the road trip, did anything happen between you two?”

            You leaned back in the car seat, hands covering your face from embarrassment, “Yes…”

            “Dan’s had some pretty bad breakups, but you seem like a perfect fit together. You look at him the same way he looks at you… and it is SO adorable.” You uncovered your face just in time to see her look over and wink at you. “Here we are!”

            You felt a little relieved, in a weird way. You went in with her to carry the pizza boxes, and helped contribute to the bill as a “thank you” to Suzy. When you got back, Dan and Arin were still recording, so Suzy texted Arin to wrap up as she pulled some drinks out of the fridge. Barry and Ross grabbed their pizza and retreated back into a separate recording room so they could “eat on the job”.

            After about fifteen minutes, Dan and Arin came out, and by the looks of it, they were probably playing Mario Maker.

            “AaaaaAAAAAAGGHHHH THAT LEVEL IS SO STUPID!” Arin yelled, stomping toward the kitchen like an angry five-year old.

            “It’s over Arin, we’re done, just focus on pizza.” Dan said, trying so hard to not giggle (which he had been doing a lot of based on his bright red cheeks). -

            “Mmmm….pizza…” Arin said, the frustration leaving his face. Suzy went over to kiss him on the cheek and dragged him to the table to sit next to you. Dan poured himself some soda, rubbing Arin’s back.

            “Let it out, buddy, you’re good.” He said.

            Arin grumbled under his breath a few more variations on “it’s so stupid” and “I’m so fucking done”.

            You had grabbed some lemonade, and you hungrily ate the pizza once everyone was all set. You listen to Dan and Arin tell a recap of what they just recorded, and you and Suzy were nearly in tears from it. Out of curiosity, while Arin continued talking about recording, you glanced over at Dan and he was looking right at you with a gentle smile. When he realized you were looking at him, too, he looked away and played with his hair for a moment. You smiled, turning away just as quickly.

            “and then I said to D-… HOLY SHIT STOP FLIRTING ACROSS THE TABLE!” Arin raised his voice, but with a huge grin on his face. You knew he was just joking around, but you quickly excused yourself and walked briskly to the bathroom.

            After a couple of minutes, you had rinsed off a little bit of the makeup so you wouldn’t forget before going to bed. It was already pretty late, you were surprised by how fast the day had been flying by. You came back out to see Arin being squeezed between two over-sized bean bags. Suzy and Dan were sitting on top.

            “Y/N….” Arin whined. “I’m sooorrryyyyyyyy…” his arms flailed a little as he continued to get out from his predicament.

            “Oh goodness, guys it’s okay.” You went over and tugged Arin out. “I’m not upset, I was just a little startled.” Arin let out a long groan of relief, which made you smile.

            “Y/N, you are adorably nice, no wonder Dan likes you…” Suzy winked as she dragged Arin up off the floor and took him outside so he could help her get something from their car.

            “Well, after that trainwreck, wanna see the room where the magic happens?” Dan offered, gesturing toward their recording room. You followed, closing the door behind you to get the full-effect of the soundproofing. Dan had a small blanket-nest on one side of the couch, in front of which two microphones were still set up.

            “It’s cozy… and super well decorated…” you commented, looked at all of the art that adorned the walls.

            “Hey so listen…” Dan started, but you were so lost in looking around to register a response. He shook you gently by the shoulder, calling your name.

            You spun around, a distracted but happily contented look on your face. “Sorry, yes Danny?” you found yourself getting lost in his endlessly deep eyes. He seemed a little stunned, and your featured softened to be a little more melancholic. “Umm…Dan?”

            “Y/N…I…” You leaned into him, putting your head at the corner of his shoulder and neck, and placed a determined kiss there. You heard a soft moan vibrate from his throat, and got up on your tip-toes to rub your cheek on his. His breathing became labored as he gripped your shoulders a little tighter. “God, Y/N…I…want to kiss you…” he choked out desperately.

             Heart pounding fast, you pulled away to meet your lips with his, you were reciprocated hastily. You reached up to play with his hair, twisting a section gently with your finger. You heard his breathing hitch before he gripped one hand upon the back of your head to draw you in as close as possible. Kissing sloppily, both sets of teeth knocked into each other briefly before lips cushioned them once more.

            “I feel so excited around you… and nervous, and restless...” you whispered roughly. You continued kissing for a few moments, and then eased back into reality.

            “I’m sorry that I’m not more public about all this with everyone, I just, it’s easier like this…ya know?” Dan said, a hint of worry in his voice.

            You shook your head, and placed a hand along his jawline. “No, I understand, it’s all right. That’s why we’re going slow.” You assured him.

 

 

            Quite a few days had passed, and you were already pretty settled into the apartment. You and Dan were still taking it slow, but you really liked living with him and Barry. They were very easy-going. Dan took you out a few times in between Game Grumps, and while you hung around the office you did some online courses in the new software you would be using for work. It was a little tedious, but you knew it would pay off on your first day back. It was the night before your big trip to Disney, which meant it was the night before your birthday. You sat in your usual spot on the bean bag in the Grump common space. Typing away in a practice version of the software, it was just about midnight. The Grumps had disappeared into the studio where they would film group live-action videos. They were doing a charity livestream, so you knew they would probably take another half-hour or so.

            Your family and a couple friends texted you for your birthday, many of them not realizing you had moved to California (and had only just found out when Facebook reminded them about your birthday). You couldn’t blame them, you didn’t try to celebrate it a whole lot since you were a teen. Your 21st birthday was pretty nice, but you had a cold that week and couldn’t drink a lot.

            You decided to take a break from working on the homework for the online class, and got up to get a drink. You opened the freezer to grab a small bottle of cake-flavored vodka which you added to cream soda as the clock ticket down the seconds until midnight.

            You heard the door to the other room open and close, giggling coming from inside, and finished mixing your drink before turning around to see it was Dan.

            “Hey! It’s almost your birthday!” he said, his voice cracking as it approached his upper register.

            You set down your plastic cup as he picked you up and spun you around. “Heehee, yes Dan, I know…” you said, giggling.

            “I have a surprise for you…” he said, going to the fridge.

            You looked over, a little concerned, “okay….” You watched as he pulled a white take-out box out of the fridge, and opened it to reveal a chocolate cupcake with pink frosting. You smiled, a bit nervous, as he lit a small pink candle that looked like a magic wand (since the top part that had the wick sticking out of it was a small star). He stepped across the room to turn off the lights, and hummed “Happy Birthday” as both of you approached the cupcake. Just after he finished humming, you took his hands in yours.

            “Thank you Dan…” you picked up the cupcake, blew out the candle, and took a small bite as he stepped away to turn the light back on. He shared a few bites, and when you threw out the paper wrapping you looked over at him as he leaned against the counter. “Do you have to go back in?”

            He sighed mournfully, “Yea, I do…I’m sorry.”

            You smiled, and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be, you’re all mine when you’re done, though!” you teased, sticking out your tongue as he blew kisses while walking back to the recording room.

            You sipped your mixed drink until they finished, upon which the door swung open to a chorus of a very out-of-tune and loud rendition of “Happy Birthday” from the whole group. You couldn’t help but laugh from how silly it was. Arin was nearly screaming he was so loud, it was so hysterical.

            “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOOOO YOUOUUUUUUUUUU!” they finished out with obnoxiously poor harmonizing and you were laughing so hard that your side literally was sore. Everyone stayed around for a while for some drinks and some improve games, until Suzy reminded everyone that they were going to Disneyland in the morning. Everyone slowly migrated to their cars and went home for the night.

            When you three got home, Barry offered some extra birthday hugs before he went to bed. You and Dan eventually went upstairs too, after Dan prepared you for all of the cool stuff that Disneyland had to offer.

            Yawning once you reached the top of the stairs, Dan coaxed you down the hall past the door to your room and over to his. He had a huge bed and a tv, and the past couple nights the two of you stayed up late watching movies and talking.

            You could tell that tonight, however, he had other plans…


	11. Birthday Sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SMUT APPROACHING!

 

            Dan planted you on his bed and asked you to pick some music from his phone, which you agreed to instantly. As you scrolled through Spotify, you peaked out of the corner of your eye what he was up to. He turned on a big lava lamp, lit a few scented candles (which you think he might’ve sneaked out of your room), and flipped the ceiling light for a moment to check how dim it was.

            “Find anything good?” he asked, flipped the lightswitch back up so he could find more candles.

            “Wanna be the tie-breaker?” you asked, honestly curious which one he would pick.

            “All right, what are the options?” You handed him the phone, and pointed at two of the albums that you had pulled up. “Geeez… ‘ _Dark Side of the Moon’_ or _‘Off The Wall’_?! Nah, you gotta pick…”

            You wrinkled your nose as you gave him a silly squinted glare. “Well then I’m picking Starbomb, try to seduce me to that shit.” You giggled, hitting shuffle and tossing the phone toward his pillow.

            He began to mouth along to the words, grooving to the beat like he was giving you your own private Starbomb show. After one song, he stopped the music. “All right, in all seriousness, what am I putting on?”

            Catching yourself biting your nails, you looked at him nervously. “Promise that you won’t judge?”

            Dan let out a humming giggle, “I have a poster of a unicorn movie in my room and you still let me kiss you… no, I won’t judge.”

            You put on one of your own playlists: a bunch of mellow romantic pop songs mixed in with a few songs that you liked to listen to when you needed to escape stress from work.

            Dan finally flipped the lights back off, now that he had found a good balance of light in the room. You removed your graphic t-shirt and yoga pants to reveal your only set of matching bra and panties, and fluffed your hair as you waited for Dan to join you on the bed. He was fumbling around with his belt and shirt, leaving on a loose pair of boxer-briefs.

            Breathing audibly and heavily, both kneeling on the bed, you felt his hands stoke up and down the curves of your body. You slowly brought yours up to his check, running them slowly down and around to his butt and then back up. After a few minutes, you found yourselves drawn closer and your lips touched softly.

            You bodies pressed close together as you continued to share each other’s warmth, like some powerful energy was building between you. You continued to press your lips hungrily against his, moaning softly whenever he nibbled on you.

            Swaying rhythmically to the beat of the music, you could feel his hands gravitate toward your breasts, kneading them in everything direction. You felt your cheeks get hotter each time his thumbs pressed on your nipples, and you eventually had to pull your mouth away from his so you could breathe in enough air.

            He smiled, which you could feel since his lips were still pressing up against your cheek, and he lowered you backwards onto his bed. Cuddling closely on top of you, one hand held your face while the other one working at squeezing one of your breasts.

            “Fuck...Dan…” you uttered breathlessly.

            He giggled softly, “is that consent or just frustration?”

            You groaned once more, as he shifted positions so he was licking the perimeter just around the very peak of one of your breasts. “Both.”

            Shifting slightly so each of you could remove what was left of your remaining undergarments, you tossed yours off to the side of the bed. You also noticed as you took off your bra that Dan had started putting a condom on, and you could vaguely smell that it was some fruity-flavored kind. Once in position, you noticed Dan was a little hesitant.

            “Are you okay?” you asked, still panting wantonly.

            He nodded, but he internal conflict was clearly written on his face. “You…uhh… are you a virgin?”

            You snorted out your nose from laughing a little, “oh God no, no no no no not even my fiancé was my first.”

            “And…shit…and you don’t-” you already knew where he was going with this.

            “No diseases, promise. Only four partners and they were all virgins, and I got tested just in case…” you paused. “And…you?”

            “Same…a few more partners but I was always pretty careful.”

            You smiled, pulling his hair to bring his face closer to yours. “Now that that’s settled…” you reached a hand down to fondle his balls for a moment. “Are you ready?”

            He nodded, with a suave smirk that lit up his face. He repositioned himself at your entrance, and rubbed his hard erection against your entrance. You were thankful, since you could tell you were still a little dry down there, and pulled one of his hands toward your entrance. Maneuvering his fingers, you pressed two of them against your clitoris, and he began to rub in small, circular motions.

            “Ahhhh…Dannnyy….” You whispered. Both of you were breathing loudly again, until he gyrated his hips a little and pushed into you. Your breathing hitched as he thrusted in part-way, and resuming when he pulled back out.

            “You good?” he asked right into ear. The warm air that tickled your skin made you squirm, but you nodded your head in response to his question. You felt his face vibrate a little as he hummed contently before he leaned forward and pressed deeper inside of you.

            “Oh…god…you feel…” you moaned to finish your sentence, and his thrusts became a little faster and he grabbed your hips tightly for leverage.

            You moans were chorused by small groans that Danny let escape his lips, both of you working toward a climax. The current song that was playing had finished, and the next one that started had the perfect tempo, and your love-making synced up perfectly with the climax of the song.

            “DAN! Dan, I… I aaahhhhhHHHH!” Both of you were shaking in pleasure before Dan nearly collapsed on you, catching his breath.

            “Happy birthday…” Dan mumbled as you of you fell asleep naked.


	12. Birthday! pt.1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disneyland, here we come!

            You woke up to a banging on Dan’s partially opened door, and cracked your eyes open to see Barry standing in the doorway. He seemed to be holding back a shit-eating grin, seeing you two in bed, you were just thankful you had thrown on one of his shirts during the night.

            “We’re gonna leave pretty soon for the park, do you guys have your tickets all set?” he asked. He flicked on the light, and your eyes squinted and you felt Dan roll over next to you.

            “Yeah…uuhhh… we’ll be down in a bit. Thanks for waking us up.”

            “No problem…” he turned to go back to his room, smirking, “Oh, and happy birthday, Y/N!”

            “Thanks!” you called after him. Dan rustled under the sheets again, and you fluffed his hair a little. “Good morning, sweet lover,” you cooed gently in his ear.

            He rolled onto his back, smiling, but eyes still completely shut. “Good morning, birthday girl…mmmmm…” he stretched his arms up, his toes unfurling at the edge of the bed. “Who’s ready for the greatest place on eeeeaaaarrrttthhh?” he asked.

            You flipped his hair out of his face and kissed his nose before getting up to go to the bathroom. “I thought that was right here next to you…” you picked up your clothes and stood by the door. “I’ll meet you downstairs, okay?”  He nodded, swinging his legs off the edge of the bed in an attempt to wake up.

            You took a quick shower, and put on a cute outfit that Suzy helped you pick out. Knee-length tights, sky-blue tunic dress, and your favorite black flats…and to complete the look, you had commissioned a set of Cinderella-themed Mickey ears that were a similar color to your outfit. You bounced down the stairs, hearing Dan was just getting out of the shower himself, and grab a mug of coffee from the drip coffee maker that Barry had started earlier.

            “So, what stuff do you recommend we do at Disney? Everyone seems to have very different ideas of how today will go…” you asked Barry and he checked some of the GameGrumps social media while nursing his coffee.

            “Eh, I don’t know. Usually I just follow what anyone else is doing. It’s kinda hard to have a bad time there, no matter what you’re doing... but I am definitely getting myself some churros before we leave.”

            You giggled, “well, I’m sure that will be do-able…”

            “What about you? As the birthday girl and a Disneyland virgin, you get first choice.”

            You shrugged a little, “Haunted Mansion sounds really awesome, I don’t really need to meet any of the people in costumes but pretty much anything sounds good to me... But I have heard about this magical thing called Dole Whip?”

            Barry smiled, “Ohhhhh yeah, we can get you some, all right.”

            Dan came in, sunglasses covering his eyes, and posed in the doorway. “I heard there was…coffee…”

            “Yeah, there’s still some left.” You shook your head, smiling as you took a sip of your own mug. Barry’s phone began to buzz, and he picked it up from where it was sitting on the table and tapped the screen to answer it.

            “Hey Arin…yea…okay we are leaving pretty soon…I’m driving….yeah man, cool, meet you guys there.”

            “Everything good?” Dan asked, a little concerned.

            “Yeah, Arin’s car won’t start, so we are just all going to carpool and we’ll jump it tomorrow morning, no big.”

            Dan downed his coffee, and the three of you left the house not too long after that to go pick up Arin and Suzy at their place. It was pretty cozy during the drive down to Anaheim, but it was definitely fun hearing everyone talk about what they wanted to do at the park.

            Disneyland was overwhelming, to say the least. Despite that fact that it was your first time and you were still absorbing that it actually existed, it felt like the group was constantly getting pulled into different directions the whole day. Everyone started out in the center of the park, where some of the older, more gentle rides are. Then you and Suzy continued in the area to do the “Alice in Wonderland” ride and Tea cups, while some of the guys went over to Tomorrowland to ride on Autopia, since the line for that had gotten a little shorter. You all met up and did some more attractions at Tomorrowland together, but the day continued on where everyone split up into smaller groups for certain things. But since it was a week night, the park closed at 9pm, so by around 7 everyone decided to get something to eat before a few more rounds of rides with the smaller crowds. For the most part, not too many people recognized the Grumps…or if they did, fewer approached them than you had anticipated.

            You got your cup of magical Dole Whip, and everyone else got a snack toward the front of the park before heading back to New Orleans Square for Pirates of the Caribbean and Haunted Mansion. You all rode each of them twice since the lines were so short, and then made your way toward the gift shops by the front of the park.

            Suzy thoroughly enjoyed going to all of this little shops, and it was tough to decide what to pick out for yourself. She even asked the cashier if they had any birthday specials, and you got a cool button! You got an ornament and a new mug, and the two of each got a pastry for the ride home.

            “Huh, that’s weird…” Suzy said, pulling out her phone. “I think my phone died…do you have yours?”

            “No,” you said, worriedly, “I gave it to Dan to keep in his pocket during the last few rides…”

            Suzy looked up and down Main Street to see if she could spot them. “Do you mind splitting up so we can look for them? We’ll meet right back at this spot in two minutes.”

            You nodded, a little unsure, “Yea, okay.” So Suzy went toward the exit while you started backwards toward the castle.

            Looking in each little shop, you couldn’t see any of them. Looking out at the groups of what people were left, something you noticed set you off guard.

            He was there…sitting on a bench. You took a step closer, and you met eyes… you started slowly walking toward the bench, his name at the edge of your tongue. He smiled at you, and lifted his arm to give you a thumbs-up. You furrowed your brows in confusion, and in a blink he had disappeared. You stood there motionless until you heard your name being called from pretty far away. But, when you turned to look for the source, you were startled to see Dan standing just a few feet away.

            “Y/N…are you okay?” he asked cautiously. You nodded, still a little dazed. “I’ve been calling your name and you were staring at that bench for a minute or so…do you need to sit?” Unable to speak, he took this as a sign for “yes”.

            So there you were, sitting on the bench, with Dan sitting right where your late fiancé had been sitting not a moment ago. You leaned into his shoulder, and he held you in close.

            “I got really worried when Suzy said you too split up, I should’ve given you your phone back before we split off again.”

            You shook your head, “You didn’t know Suzy’s phone was gonna die…it’s okay…I’m, I’m okay Dan.”

            He sighed, not exactly that you were being completely open. “So…how’s your birthday been?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood.

            You took a deep breath, the edges of your lips curling up just thinking about the day you’d had up until that point. “It’s been pretty wonderful; the internet did not lie about Dole Whip.”

            Dan giggled, and the two of you turned when you heard the rest of the group catch up. “Hey! We wanna know if you’re down for some food on the way home?”

            “Sure!” You replied. Dan seemed content that you were feeling better, but you were still a little off as everyone made their way toward the parking lot.


	13. Birthday pt.2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Been a while, huh? Hoping I can get back into the groove of things. Sorry it's so short, I'll come back with more soon!)

The lot of you piled out of the cars, and found a table at a Chinese buffet restaurant on your way home from Disneyland. You each grabbed a massive plate of food, and chatted about everyone's adventures in the park after separating.

"We must've gone on Haunted Mansion, like, 5 times Suzy...." Arin said.

"I'm just saying, there's always time for one more ride before leaving... what about you, Y/N? What was your favorite part?"

That was a big question: pretty much everything had been amazing... until you saw your dead fiancé and panicked. "I thought Pirates of the Caribbean was pretty awesome, but I can see what the fuss is about with that Dole Whip now..."

There were a few giggles, and then the conversations continued. You tried to listen to each of their stories intently, but your mind was elsewhere. It was a little distracting with so much going on; the music in the restaurant, all of the talking, you felt a little overwhelmed, so you stayed pretty quiet. You were enjoying just being in the company of so many people who cared about you, and you glanced over at Dan. He was happily digging into his food and listening to everyone as well, meeting your eyes with his once he noticed you looking. "So, how's the birthday going?" he asked. "Are you feeling better?"

You nodded, smiling a little. "Definitely the best one, so far... it's hard to top Disneyland on your birthday." You weren't really sure if you were feeling better, still kinda shaky and feeling off. You really hoped you wouldn't have a panic attack right there in the middle of a restaurant. You just had to keep it together a little longer.

"Y/N! Happy Birthday!!!" From across the table, Arin handed you a small wrapped box. Your panic subsided a little, as you opened it to reveal a game... it was the PC game of "The Hobbit" from the early 2000's. 

"I haven't seen this game in FOREVER..." you smiled, and thanked him.

"So... I was wondering if you wanted to play it with Dan and I for Game Grumps? If you're up for it..." he asked a little nervously. You were a little agasp... it would mean people would find out that you knew them. "If you're worried about your job or something, you can totally use a pseudonym or something."

You nodded, "Yeah... that's... that would be awesome... thank you!" 

Each of them gave you small gifts, besides Suzy who had gotten your clothes the other day, and Dan (who said he had a surprise for later.)

By the time everyone paid for their food and you were getting back into the car, the panicked fluttering had started to come back. Something felt off, and you didn't you what. Everyone met back up at the Grump Space to play games and hang around. Some drinks and snacks were pulled out and set on the countertop for nibbling, and Suzy dragged you into the bathroom to give you a makeover and take selfies with her. 

You let her carefully apply each layer of makeup, and fluffed with your hair a little. You pushed down your nervousness, and actually enjoyed yourself for the most part. Once she stepped out to help Arin with something, you leaned up against the wall and stared to breath as steadily as you could. You chest felt like you were pressed between two cinderblocks, and your stomach wasn't helping either. You couldn't hold it together, locked the door, and barfed up your dinner. The bathroom was far enough away from the rest of the office that you hoped no one would hear, and began cleaning your mouth and rinsed it with water. You felt a little better, but not completely there. You shook it off, unlocked the door and rejoined everyone. Ross had some music blasting from his computer, while Dan, Arin and Barry goofed around by bopping a balloon around using only their heads. You joined Suzy on the couch, helping her edit an "outfit of the day" post for her Instagram.

Dan waved at you, and you waved back, blushing a little. He must've noticed how hesitant you were to smile, and told everyone that the two of you needed to run out to the car to get something really quick. You were relieved to have a moment alone with him, and followed him up the stairs and out to the car. He held your shoulders firmly, "Is everything okay? You seem a little quiet since we left the park..." Concern was pouring off of his face. You hated having him worry about you after everything he's done already.

"I.... uuhh... I think I'm a little overwhelmed and..." You stopped to take in a few breaths; your heart was racing faster than you could keep up with. "I thought I saw someone while we were in the park, and I'm just..." You started breathing breathing heavier, and held your head as it felt weightless all of a sudden.

"Woah woah... Y/N, baby..." Dan uttered nervously. "Who did you see?" He pulled you in close and held you tightly.

You muffled his name into Dan's shoulder as tears began to spill out. "I don't know why... I... I saw him sitting on a bench and he smiled and then he was just gone. I don't know why I'm freaking out like this it just..." You felt yourself getting held tighter, a hand softly stroking your hair.

"Shhh.. shhh... it's okay... I'm sorry, that must've been kinda weird." He held you close silently for another minute, before speaking up again. "Do you... do you still love him?" his voice cracked a little.

You nodded a little with your face buried into him. You worded "I'm sorry, I'm sorry.." over and over as your eyes continued to leak.

"I'm not upset, you know." he whispered. You looked up at him, "I can't even begin to process what it must feel like..but...I know that you love me and that this is gonna be a process... so if you need anything I want you to tell me... because I love you. I don't want to replace him, but I want to earn my own place in your heart." 

A few more sobs escaped your mouth, and you mumbled "Thank you" into his ear and kissed his cheek. He brought a hand to your cheek and kissed you back.

"Do you need some time before we get more serious together?" You shook your head, holding him tighter every second. 

"I totally don't deserve you, Danny..." you felt yourself calming down slowly. He kissed you more passionately, and shook his head.

"I'm exactly what you deserve, baby..."


End file.
